Afadjato-South Residents threaten Demo over frequent Dumsor

Residents in Afadjato South District of the Volta Region have threatened to embark on a demonstration over what they termed ‘frequent dumsor’ in the area.

Areas mostly affected by this rather unfortunate erratic power supply include, Logba-Alakpeti, Logba-Adzakoe, Logba-Tota, Logba-Vuinta and Logba- Akusame. Ve communities, Tafi and Fume are also among the affected areas.

They asserted that ever since they began enjoying electricity from the national grid, the Electricity Company of Ghana has not been fair to them in terms of supply of constant electric power.

“They don’t provide us with constant power supply, rather, power outages or fluctuations almost everyday,” they said angrily.

In an interview with Ghanaian journalist Graham Kofi Baldwin in Logba Alakpeti, Emmanuel Edem Afadzi explained that, the area is gradually becoming an agricultural hub considering the number of cottage industries in the area and the employment these industries have created and wondered why the Electricity Company of Ghana will continue to sabotage people’s investments with poor service delivery.

They claimed that, Health Centers in the area also suffer same fate since they have to improvise regarding how vaccines are stored and protected when the lights go off.

Residents alleged that, “most communities have been placed on old and faulty transformers because they do not respect us in the area” he said among other serious allegations against the power producer in the Volta Region.

Cold store operators have to deal with huge loses since most of the time, generator sets could not power their refrigerators satisfactorily resulting into products getting spoilt.

“Most areas in Ve have factories…and there is need for constant electricity supply so our business flourish” they again said.

One of the communities, Logba–Alakpeti is said to be the centre of the Volta Region. It is a vibrant marketing centre. On a market day, it is the scene of a magic buoyant market attracting several traders from far and near.

Logba is a junction for three municipalities in the Volta Region, a centre for marketing natural fruits, a gateway to the popular tourist attraction site, the Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary. It is also a gateway to the northern sector of the country through the eastern corridor.

As a junction for Hohoe, Kpando and Ho areas, Logba has virtually the potential to attract traders from those areas and therefore has consistently served as a regular market for all kinds of fruits all year round.

It’s is against the above that, there is need for the power producer to serve the area with regular power supply for continuous flow of business activities.

Residents were particular about their health centers. They said that, potency of drugs especially vaccines at various health centers cannot be guaranteed since health workers have to run around almost everyday finding alternatives to storing of vaccines” they again registered and asked that the ECG treat residents in the area with some form of respect and fairness.

The Electricity Company of Ghana Limited embarked on a nationwide revenue mobilization to enable it pay power producers it owe.
A number of customers were disconnected from the national grid for non payment of electricity bills or for purpose of illegal connections.

Ghanaians have been asking the ECG to deliver efficient and reliable service to customers since customers pay for the power they use.

Meanwhile, residents in especially Logba and Ve enclave have threaten to hit the streets if nothing is done about the situation. They have therefore given the power distribution company a one week deadline to replace all old and faulty transformers and also work on any other situation that would not guarantee efficient and reliable service delivery.

By Graham Kofi Baldwin