Residents of Afadjato South district of the Volta region are lamenting unreliable and erratic power supply in the area.
According to the residents, areas most affected by this rather unfortunate erratic power supply include, Logba-Alakpeti, Logba-Adzakoe, Logba-Tota, Logba-Vuinta and Logba- Akusame.
Ve, Tafi and Fume are also among the affected areas.
Emmanuel Edem Afadzi, a resident and cold store operator in the area who spoke to News Ghana, said, “ever since we were connected to the national grid, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has not been fair to us in the supply of constant electric power” – they don’t provide us with constant power supply, rather, power outages or fluctuations almost everyday,” he lamented.
He explained that, the area is gradually becoming an agricultural hub considering the number of cottage industries that abound in the area and the employment these industries have created and wondered why the ECG will continue to sabotage people’s investments with poor service delivery.
Afadzi further alleged that, “most communities have been placed on old and faulty transformers because they do not respect us in the area,” he said among other serious allegations against the power producer in the Volta region.
“Cold store operators have to deal with huge loses since most of the time, generator sets could not power our refrigerators satisfactorily resulting in products getting spoilt – most areas in Ve, have factories, and there is need for constant electricity supply so our businesses can flourish,” Afadzi said.
One of the communities, Logba–Alakpeti said to be the centre of the Volta region, is a vibrant marketing centre – on a market day, it is the scene of a buoyant market, attracting several traders from far and near.
As a junction for Hohoe, Kpando and Ho areas, Logba has the potential to attract traders from those areas and therefore has consistently served as a regular market for all kinds of fruits all year round.
“ECG has to serve the area with regular power supply for continuous flow of business activities,” Afadzi said.
A nurse who pleaded anonymity said, health centers were also affected by this erratic power supply.
She said, the potency of drugs especially vaccines at various health centers cannot be guaranteed since “we have to run around almost everyday finding alternatives to storing of vaccines.”
The residents appealed to the ECG to as a matter of urgency find a lasting solution to this situation to forestall further damage to their electronic gadgets and products.
The Electricity Company of Ghana Limited recently embarked on a nationwide revenue mobilization to enable it pay power producers it owe.
A number of customers were disconnected from the national grid for non payment of electricity bills or for illegal connections.
Ghanaians have been asking the ECG to deliver efficient and reliable services to customers since customers pay for the power they use.
Meanwhile, residents in especially Logba and Ve areas, have threatened to hit the streets if nothing was done about the situation.
They have therefore given the power distribution company a two week ultimatum to replace all old and faulty transformers and also work on any other situation that would not guarantee efficient and reliable service delivery to the affected communities.
Source: GNA
