Power crisis purely technical; Has nothing to do with funds — Prez
President John Dramani Mahama says the power crisis has nothing to do with lack of money to purchase crude oil to power the thermal plant, as some people seek to portray.
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The problem, he explained, was purely technical, which the government was working tirelessly to overcome as soon as possible.
Addressing the May Day parade at the Black Star Square in Accra yesterday, the President said, "We are working to strategically and permanently fix the generation shortfall. Happily we are overcoming the technical challenges and as the thermal plant at Aboadze moves to full capacity in the next few days, people would begin to see some relief," he said.
In Tema, he said, both the Cenit and VRA plants were currently running on light crude oil, with only Asogli using gas from the West Africa Gas Pipeline.
To overcome the unpredictable gas flow in the Tema enclave, the President stated that the government was entering into a contract for a re-gasification unit that would feed liquefied natural gas into the system.
Many dates
He admitted that in the anxiety to see the end to the power crisis, the government had come out with many dates, but expressed confidence that the crisis would be over by the end of the year
"The power sector currently receives my greater attention," he said, stressing that he intended to bring the chapter to a close.
Dedication
Organised labour dedicated this year's May Day celebration to focusing on the debilitating power situation, and the message they carried across at the rally demonstrated the united strength of the workers' movement to support the government to overcome the crisis.
The ceremony was peaceful and security forces at the Black Star Square had little problem controlling the thousands of uniformed workers who were present.
But though they promised to support the government to address the energy challenge, the workers, in typical fashion, sang and chanted slogans to express their frustration at the number of their compatriots who had lost their jobs as a result of the power crisis.
Touching on the theme for the celebration, President Mahama said the role of organised labour in addressing the crisis was appropriate. "It means we both have a role to play in ending this energy crisis as soon as possible," he indicated.
Timetable
He expressed disappointment in the ECG’s inability to follow the timetable for electricity distribution and said it was ironical that the company failed to inform its customers whenever they faced technical challenges; a situation that led to some areas going off for between 40 and 72 hours.
Workers in the power sector, he said, must avoid lackadaisical attitude to work and ensure better customer services.
Sustainability
Laying out his road map for power sustainability, the President said in the next five years, he would put in enough power in the system; more than what had been put in place since independence. This would depend on gas, hydro and renewable energy to give security.
Renewable energy
Mr Mahama recalled his state of the nation address where he announced plans to introduce a rooftop solar systems project targeting about 200,000 households and small businesses.
He expressed delight that the Energy Commission and the Public Utilities and Regulation Commission ( PURC) had already started work on the project and would soon roll it out.
He called for energy conservation and expressed surprise that street lights were left on at daytime.
While calling on organised labour to take a leading role in checking this practice, he stressed the need to form power conservation teams in workplaces.
He also asked organised labour to support the government in the power sector reforms programme which commenced this year. The reforms, he said, would bring about change, which naturally could be uncomfortable.