Residents of Sandema in the Builsa North Municipality of the Upper East Region have expressed worry about erratic power supply which has impacted negatively on their businesses.
Some residents within the Sandema Township, especially those in the business community, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that their businesses and livelihoods depended on electricity, and the routine unstable power supply greatly affected them.
“It is affecting our business, when the power is off for the whole day, most of our products go bad, and we run into debt. We are pleading with the authorities to fix the problem so we can be relieved of the debts we incur,” Ms Priscilla Abanchaab, a Saleslady at ‘De-Gape Cold Store’ in Sandema said.
Mr Rogatus Agominab, an Auditor at the Wonemare Pharmacy Company Limited, expressed concern about the power situation in the Municipality, saying their vaccines and other injectable medicines stored in the refrigerator were affected.
“From Monday till now, we have been experiencing frequent power fluctuations. If our refrigerator goes off for hours, it affects the efficacy of the vaccines and medicines. We don’t even know why there are frequent and unannounced power outages.
“We want to appeal for an immediate intervention to save our business. It is not only our company, but other business operators are also complaining,” Mr Agominab said.
Madam Magdalene Aburinya, a Hairdresser in the town, who also appealed for an urgent solution to the power situation, said one of her hair dryers broke down as a result of the frequent power fluctuation
According to a resident, Mr Alidu Abaapoli, the Volta River Authority (VRA) sometimes does not inform them before the power goes off, and most of their refrigerated foods go bad.
“Sometimes you return from work and find that your food in the refrigerator is bad because of the power outage. It is affecting us here,” he noted.
Mr Hakim Adams, an Internet Café Operator, said “You can see that currently as am talking there is no light, this is my empty money box. I opened the shop at 0705hours and by then, the light was off. There are no customers here, and it will affect my daily sales.”
When the GNA contacted Mr Michael Ayi, the Builsa North Municipal VRA Sector Supervisor, he explained that power was transported from Navrongo in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality to Sandema and its environs.
He said “Report received from Navrongo Control Room indicate that termination on incomer cable to Navrongo has failed. All Navrongo feeders including Sandema and Yagaba are out of power supply as a result.
“It happened this morning at 0755hours and a team is heading to the station to assess the extent of damage, as we take measures to restore power,” this, Mr Ayi said was communicated on a platform of stakeholders in Buluk.
The Sector Supervisor further cautioned residents and members of the public to avoid setting bush fires which sometimes burn down electrical poles and cause power outages.
Source: GNA
