Builsa North: Sandema residents protest over ‘dumsor’, petition VRA

Residents of Sandema in the Builsa North Municipality of the Upper East Region on Monday, August 14, took to the streets to protest over the frequent erratic power outages in the area.

The residents have been complaining about the lack of reliable power supply in the area and its associated dire impact on business and household activities over the past months.

The residents who demonstrated were seen holding placards with the inscription, “Buluk has suffered for far too long,” “The people of Buluk deserve better. VRA must listen to our plea.” “Our gadgets are getting damaged due to power outages”.

Some residents were seen carrying their damaged fridges on bicycles.

Others also carried their damaged television sets on their heads.

Officials of the Volta River Authority (VRA) had blamed the ‘dumsor’ on interferences by bats on the power cables.

But the demonstrators in a petition to the VRA demanded serious measures to be taken to stop the menace within one week, threatening to advise themselves on their next line of action.

The demonstrators moved through the Sandema township and later presented a copy of the petition to the Traditional Council.

The Paramount Chief of the area, Nab Azagsuk Azantilow, expressed concern about the situation in a recent interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), saying, “We do not like the frequent power outages. They create problems for us”.

The Convenor of the demonstration, Mr Theophilus Awennisiak Akoba, told the GNA that the action was intended to draw the attention of dutybearers to the frustrating power outages in the area.

He said the situation had damaged the electrical appliances of residents, plunged the entire township into darkness, and affected their businesses at night.

“At night, we do not get a stable power supply and people’s electrical appliances get damaged. We are determined to make duty-bearers hear our plight and take immediate steps to resolve the problem,” he said.

Mr Akoba said one of the reasons given by officials of the Volta River Authority (VRA) in the area for the erratic power supply was interference from bats on the power cables.

“I told them that if bats are one of the reasons for this frustrating situation, then the 37 Military Hospital area in Accra should never have power because of the countless number of bats there,” he noted.

He said information from the VRA also indicated that one line supplied power to the municipality, the Builsa South District, and the Yagba-Kobore District of the North East Region.

“So anytime there is an issue with the line, all these three districts are affected,” Mr Akoba said.

——- By: citinewsroom.com with additional files from GNA

By Citi Newsroom