Minister charges ECG

BY ATO KEELSON & KELVIN ADUM TWUM PEPRAH

The Deputy Minister of Energy in charge of power, Hon. Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, has tasked the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to improve on the transmission and distribution systems in order for consumers to have constant supply of power.

Hon. Buah who was speaking exclusively to TODAY, disclosed that one of the key steps that he has taken within his eight months stay in office, had been the institution of an internal audit to check the country’s power supply system.

He disclosed for the system to work effectively, two areas needed immediate attention. These are the transmission and distribution system and the equipment itself, since most of the equipments at most of the power supply stations were obsolete.

According to the deputy Minister, as a result of the obsolete equipments, there had been some technical losses, resulting in poor managerial practices which have invariably contributed to theft among others.

The Minister said there had been massive injection of capital into raising the quality of equipments at various sub-stations by the ECG to check frequent power outages.

“ECG is doing a lot to ensure that there is constant supply of power to all homes, but I take the opportunity to tell all that last Sunday’s general power outage was as a result of a system failure”, the deputy Minister noted.

He explained that “in the cause of getting the system back, the whole system collapsed again and had to be re-started. After getting the system back, we set up a committee to find out what caused the problem, so that it does not occur again. There is no excuse for anybody to sleep in the dark and I am determined and focused in ensuring that there is efficient system running for benefit of everyone”, the deputy Minister declared.

The internal audit report suggests that there was little communication between the major power supply agencies—the Volta River Authority (VRA), GRIDCO, and ECG—contributing to the downward performance of power supply “and all these cause problems,” Mr Buah stressed.

“Now there is a strong system in place to make sure these organizations have a game plan to work as a unit; there is in place a standard operating procedure (SOP) that ensures that we operate within an efficient structure. Not only that, but also to become a net exporter of power to our neighbouring countries,” he noted.

Hon Buah, who also doubles as the Member of Parliament for Ellembele Constituency in the Western Region, charged the ECG to explain their policies to the Ghanaians and educate them on the processes they need to undergo before acquiring a meter.

“ECG should be transparent in their dealings with the public and will have to institute effective, efficient structures transparent enough to win the people’s confidence”, he said adding “that there is a process in place to ensure that Ghanaians have the most cost effective meters”.

He however admitted that ECG has had to contend with different technologies in meters, a situation he explained sometimes make it difficult to achieve the right standard.