The Public Relations Officer for Electricity Company of Ghana(ECG) at the Tema Regional office, Sakyiwaa Mensah, has disclosed that a power outage in some Krobo areas in the Eastern Region is due to safety reasons.
In a press release on Tuesday, 2 August 2022, almost a week after light-outs in the two Krobo municipalities – Yilo Krobo and Lower Manya Krobo, she explained that “safety became a paramount issue and that necessitated the shutdown.”
According to her, the entire ECG network is interlinked, and since the company was not sure of the integrity of the network and the extent of interference, that decision was taken.
The ECG PRO, however, promised power would be restored soon.
“It is hoped that power will be restored soon as stakeholders meet to discuss and seek resolutions, especially for the safety of lives of ECG staff.”
Meanwhile, management of the Yilo Krobo and Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Health Directorates have warned of a public health emergency if power is not restored to their districts.
The two districts have been without power since 27 July 2022, amid a dispute over the installation of prepaid meters, and this is affecting the provision of healthcare, they said in a statement.
In the Yilo Krobo Municipal Directorate, for example, the power outage has caused the relocation of municipal Cold Chain Equipment, which includes vaccine fridges and freezers for ice packs.
The directorate is also spending GH¢500 a day to power a generator.
“Ongoing COVID-19 vaccination is also affected as a result vaccination teams, district and sub-district supervisors are not able to charge their mobile phones and tablets, therefore not been able to enter data and monitoring/supervisory reports,” the statement said.
According to the release, the district hospital has spent GH¢10,975 to power its diesel generator.
“The hospital is barely three months old with very little capital and a host of challenges.”
At the Somanya Polyclinic, the directorates also said the only generator plant “which was donated by ECG to Somanya Polyclinic has been taken back without any explanation by ECG and therefore, the facility has no alternative source of power.”
“The power outage has affected all aspects of clinical and public health care in the facility. The most affected areas are maternity units, laboratory services, in-patients, vaccine fridges and administration.”
The directorates have warned that the high fuel cost incurred in powering generator sets is not sustainable, “and we may not be able to sustain it to provide the quality health care services as expected.”
Last week, several communities in Manya and Yilo Krobo were disconnected from the national grid by ECG after some angry residents allegedly threatened some staff members of the utility company who were in the community to fix a tampered transformer.
The transformer in question, it was gathered, was one of the damaged equipment that resulted in the disruption in power supply to the area and is said to have been fixed by the residents.
The presence of the ECG team, therefore, heightened suspicions that they were there to cut the power again. This infuriated residents of the area, who massed up and confronted the ECG team.
Two hours after the clash, power was shut down in the entire Krobo area.