The Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCO) has explained why parts of the Upper East and North East Regions are experiencing incessant and prolong power outages.
For sometime now, power supply to Bawku and its surrounding areas as well as the East Mamprusi Municipality and the Bunkpurugu/Napkanduri areas have been erratic and poor.
The situation, disturbed residents say, is negatively affecting their commercial and social activities with some raising concerns of their businesses folding up if it is not reversed as soon as possible.
But the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) is blaming the situation on the escalating conflict in Bawku.
Speaking in an interview on Accra-based Joy FM, NEDCo Area Manager for Upper East and North East Regions, Ing. Eugene Odoi Addo explained that the company has been unable to undertake routine maintenance for the past 2 years due to the growing insecurity in Bawku where its supply control room for the said areas is stationed, resulting in frequent system breakdowns and power outages.
What compounds the situation, Ing. Odoi indicated, is that staff of the company, who were stationed in Bawku to man the control room, has been moved to Bolgatanga for safety.
As a result, they are unable to respond and fix the breakdowns on time, leading to the prolong blackouts.
“Over the past 2 months, we’ve changed our operational strategy in the Bawku region because of the escalating violence. We have moved our staff who were hitherto stationed in Bawku to Bolga. So every morning, they drive to Bawku, they perform operations there and then they close at 4 and move back to Bolga. That is part of the cause.
The other cause is that they’re not able to do a lot of maintenance activities on our lines because of the same situation. So for the past two years, the lines have basically not receive the necessary maintenance activities and that’s causing more outages,” he explained.
He, however, assured that the company is taking steps including moving the staff manning the control room to Zebilla, which is closer, to resolve the situation.
“Following the discussions we had, I assured the people that we are going to change the strategy a bit. Instead of operating from Bolga, we are going to move them to Zebilla which is much closer so that in case there’s such outages, our men will go and restore the problem”.
