The Minister of State-designate in charge of Finance, Abena Osei-Asare, has admonished Ghanaians to appreciate the gains made in the power sector compared to previous years.
She maintained that there have been improvements in the power outage situation in the country, adding that people do not import huge generators for their businesses to run.
In an interview with TV3, the former deputy finance minister said: “Previously, we did not have consistent supply of power. Yes, now we’ve been seen to have one or two issues with our power but it has been consistent. People no longer bring in huge generators and to buy huge volumes of fuel to run these generators.”
“So in that area the cost of doing business has come down,” she stated.
Responding to the Public Utility Regulatory Commission’s (PURC) latest report, which revealed that the power distribution company, ECG, has defaulted on payments to independent power producers (IPPs), Osei-Asare noted that the cash waterfall mechanism is expected to tackle the issue.
“That is why we have set up the cash waterfall mechanism. Yes, we are having some issues with it.
“We are always quick to point out the faults but do we stop to also find out what probably might be causing that? she quizzed.
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She continued: “In this country, at least we also have to do our bits, everybody. It is not just ok to put out a report but to also find out exactly what has necessitated that and what measures we can all collectively put in place to make sure we address these issues.”
The irony of no dumsor: We're always quick to point out our faults. The situation is better than what happened under Mahama – Abena Osei Asare, Minister of State designate at the Ministry of Finance#GhanaTonight pic.twitter.com/hdiTvuhQT0
— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) March 12, 2024
Meanwhile, ECG in a statement yesterday [March 11, 2024] explained that so far, 630 distribution transformers within communities across its operational areas have been identified to be full due to increased power demand.
That, it said, may result in blown fuses and broken conductors causing outages, especially during the peak load period (7pm – 11pm) in the affected areas.
“However, we wish to assure our customers that transformer upgrading and new projects are ongoing to relieve these transformers to ensure a more reliable power supply,” the statement added.