Present blue print on energy challenges – Bawa urges govt

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Bongo Constituency in the Upper East Region, Edward Bawa, has charged the government to treat the challenges in the energy sector as a national security issue and present a blueprint on how it is being resolved.

He explained that, as a matter of urgency, the government should direct the country’s power distribution companies to publish a load shedding time table to save the citizenry from further inconvenience.

Mr Bawa, the former Head of Communications at the Energy Ministry, attributed recent intermittent power outages across the country on government’s inability to procure fuel for power generators to produce electricity for consumption.

In a statement signed and issued in Accra, it alleged that “the country’s energy sector is confronted with severe financial challenges coupled with unprecedented net arrears of about US$4 billion and indebtedness of US$1.5 billion owed private power producers.

“The situation, if not tackled head-on can plunge the country into power crisis in the coming days, the country’s energy production can grind to a halt if the government does not take urgent measures to address the situation.

“If nothing is done, electricity production will grind to a halt and deprive the citizenry of a regular and adequate supply of power for domestic and commercial use since the current power outages are symptomatic of a bigger challenge that will eventually plunge this country into the dreaded power outage,” the statement said. -citinewsroom.com