‘Karpower Power Barge; don’t believe the hype’ – Dr. Nduom

Entrepreneur cum politician, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom, has asked Ghanaians not to be swayed by the arrival of the 225 megawatts power barge from Turkey, to think that a huge chunk of the power crisis has been solved. The leader of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP) in a post on his Facebook page said Ghanaians should be concerned about the monies they would be made to pay to fuel the barge. The Facebook post Dumsor is a serious problem that needs serious, concentrated technical and financial solutions and management. The hype surrounding the arrival of the Karpower barge must not become an attention-grabbing, media circus, music and dance for all celebration. When hooked onto the national grid, the power generated by this barge will help and that will be a good thing, But a lot of work remains to be done including the determination of how much the consumers will pay for the power to be produced by the barge.

The Minister of Power, the President and the NDC Administration must know that Ghanaians have suffered losses due to dumsor, some of which cannot and will not be erased. These losses are etched in the memories of industrialists, families and many, many others. These wounds must not be bruised by the President, the Power Minister or the NDC. They must go and sit behind closed doors, final the money and the technical resources to get the barge working continuously and move on to solve the other related power problems that exist. Seriously. No politics. Silence here will be golden. The following report represents a bad move, a misstep, a finger in our eyes that are already red:

“The Power Minister, Dr Kwabena Donkor who led a high level government delegation as well as officials from the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), did not answer queries from the media on production timelines as well as tariffs. Officials from the utility regulatory body, the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC), were also at the inspection tour. Traditional rulers from the Tema Traditional Council poured libation at the facility to signify a safe arrival and a successful production and evacuation of power at the facility. “President Mahama is expected to do an official commissioning of the facility in the ensuing weeks and all such queries and public concerns would be addressed at that forum”, Dr Donkor explained. Describing the facility as a very useful one that could help ameliorate the country’s power needs, Dr Donkor hinted that electricity from the facility would help address the deficit created by shortfalls in production and supply. The Public Relations and External Relations Manager at the PURC, Nana Yaa Jantuah, hinted discussions on proposals for increment in utility tariffs were still underway. “At the last meeting of the Commissioners, percentage increment of 102 came up, however, discussions were still underway to arrive at a percentage that could be beneficial to both the consumer and the provider”, Ms Jantuah hinted.”