Garu, Tempane residents demonstrate over erratic power supply
Some residents within the Garu and Tempane areas in the Upper East Region last Wednesday went on a demonstration against the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo), over unannounced power outages for the past four weeks.
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According to them, the problem normally occurred during the rainy season and that all attempts to get answers from NEDCo about the situation had not received the needed attention it deserved.
They said “the frequent power outages have brought untold hardships on the people in the area, which has made it very difficult for the local people to go about their daily social and economic activities”.
Petition
In a petition presented to the District Chief Executives for Garu and Tempane, Osman Musah and Issaka Anabida, they said since the outages began, there had been incidences of burglary of shops and the snatching of motorbikes especially at night, by some unscrupulous individuals who engaged in such acts under the cover of darkness.
The angry residents noted that as a result of the frequent power outages, economic activities in both towns had grounded to a halt, saying “operators of cold stores and other businesses that survive on electricity have grounded to a halt.”
They stated that due to the unstable power supply, hospitals that could conduct surgeries in the Garu area had been compelled to transfer patients to the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital.
“In the same way, it is extremely difficult for health facilities to preserve drugs in refrigerators at a certain temperature,” they pointed out.
Economic activities
They said the incident was having a negative toll on agriculture production in the area, adding, “sometimes we experience 24-hour blackout, which causes eggs in incubators to get rotten and unfertilised”.
The concerned residents stated that households had not been left out, as gadgets of some of the residents had been damaged completely as because of the erratic power supply.
They explained further that offices and institutions were not functioning properly as both public and private institutions were losing their customers and income due to the current power situation in the area.
They, therefore, demanded stable power supply in both communities to enable the residents to go about their activities effectively, noting, “Just as it will be a breach of contract when we fail to pay our bills, it is equally a breach of contract if NEDCo fails to give us stable power supply.”
Reaction
Reacting to the concerns of the residents, the Upper East Area Engineer of NEDCo, Ishmael Ben Kwofie, said the power outages experienced were a result of damages to about 63 electricity poles due to rainstorm.
He noted that the damages caused by the storm were very extensive and they were struggling to get immediate materials to restore power to the affected communities, adding, “Although the situation is unpleasant, contractors are currently working on site to rectify the problem”.
He stated that communities mostly hit were Akara, Woriyanga, Yakoti Number Four and Kpikpira and that a total of 31 electricity poles had been completely destroyed in such communities.
He urged the residents to remain calm as NEDCo was doing everything in its power to attend to the problem and restore power supply to all affected communities.
Writer’s email: [email protected]