President John Dramani Mahama says he is deeply worried over the very erratic electricity supply that Ghanaians and businesses are currently experiencing under the load shedding regime.
He says the ongoing load shedding does not reflect government’s commitment and level of investment made into the energy sector.
Ghanaians for past few weeks have had to endure a terrible time of blackouts affecting individuals and industries; a situation President Mahama claims it gives him “sleepless night”.
Presenting the Address on the State of the Nation in Parliament on Thursday, President Mahama states that series of unforeseen circumstances including damage to the West African Gas Pipe Line has contributed to the poor energy situation in the country.
He mentions that government has worked around the clock to bring many plants into operation earlier than scheduled while also awaiting the restoration of plants affected by the absence of the West African Gas Pipe Line.
President Mahama was confident that the addition of over 500 megawatts of installed generation capacity this year as well as 132 megawatts from Takoradi T3 Thermal Plant by the end of February, 130 Megawatts from Bui by the end of April and 2 Megawatts from solar plants built in Navrongo will go a long way to ameliorate the situation.
Touching on measures government intends to introduce to curtail its expenditure on fuel, President Mahama noted that his administration will very soon rationalize government use of vehicles and that he has instructed the Chief of Staff to work on this programme.
He adds that government will discuss with auto companies, a scheme to enable public senior servants to buy on high purchase their own vehicles and curtail the use of these state vehicles.
Kwadwo Anim/GhanaMPs.gov.gh
