The Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament has tasked the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to fast-track processes to ensure that consumers receive a load-shedding timetable in the coming days.
At a crunch meeting with stakeholders in the energy sector in Accra, the Chairman of the Committee, Samuel Atta Akyea, told the media that the committee will see to it that the ECG provides customers with a load-shedding timetable for them to plan effectively.
He also assured the public that the recent power outages will be resolved.
“The conversations we’ve had are very good. Some of the technical challenges relating to fuel and the rest of it, they will be tackled,” said the Abuakwa South lawmaker, adding that “if there is under generation which there is an admission there is one we should do everything in our power to make sure that we generate enough power.”
He emphasised that the committee at the meeting was “very strong on the matter” regarding publishing a load-shedding timetable due to a lack of adequate generation capacity to meet demand.
“The committee was very strong on the matter that if there are power outages, those who are enjoying power should know when it will be available, and then they plan their lives around the timetable you furnished them,” he stated.
According to Mr. Atta Akyea, the power distributor demonstrated signs of complying with the Committee’s advice, indicating that, “they are not averse to that it is imperative and they are going to do it.”
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of ECG, Samuel Dubik Mahama, on his part, maintained that there is no dumsor currently and that his outfit has not been “shedding load” in the past few days.
He assured the Committee that the lights would stay on.
He said, “The assurance is that we are doing our best and the lights are going to stay on. Most of the transformers that we spoke about and the intensification exercises are almost done so we should just stay positive.”
“We are currently not shedding load,” he stressed.
However, the ranking member of the committee and MP for the Yapei-Kusawgu constituency, John Abdulai Jinapor, disagreed with the ECG boss.
Mr. Jinapor insisted the ECG has been shedding load, stressing that the power outages are caused by the government’s inability to raise funds to buy fuel.
He noted that government has assured the committee of securing some funds to curtail the problem.
