Works start on Kintampo power sub-station

Kintampo (B/A) Jan. 24, GNA - A total of 340 communities in 22 districts and municipalities in Brong Ahafo Region started enjoying electricity power as at the end of December, last year.

Dr Joe Oteng Adjei, Minister of Energy who announced this at the sod cutting ceremony for the construction of a 29 million dollars sub-station in Kintampo on Monday said the facility was provided in 216 of the communities under the Self-Help Electricity Programme.

The Grid Company (GRIDCO) of Ghana provided for the remaining 124 communities, whilst government is working to extend the facility to 400 additional towns in the region.

Dr Adjei indicated that the substation on completion would generate 400 Megawatts power, after Akosombo and Kpong and would evacuate power from the Bui hydropower plant to Northern, Upper East, Upper West and Brong Ahafo regions.

The substation, otherwise known as Bui power substation for the 161 KV and 34.5 KV, is expected to provide a unique service for beneficiary communities in the sense that even during power failure from the national grid they would continue to enjoy power.

Dr Adjei expressed regret about the tendency among some construction workers to pilfer materials meant for national projects and called on the chiefs, assembly members and other stakeholders in the area to help check the activities of such nation wreckers.

Weldy Lamont Associates Incorporated of the United States is the main contractor for the project, with GRIDCO Limited, Volta River Authority (VRA) and The Chnology Material Group, as project partners.

Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye Marfo, Regional Minister, said the inauguration of numerous projects across the country was evident that President John Evans Atta Mills statement that the year 2011 was an action year was not a fluke.

“The provision of necessary infrastructure in all corners of the country explains how realistic the government means with the Better Ghana Agenda.

“It also portrays the seriousness of the government in ensuring that electricity power is provided in all communities, no matter the location, to reduce the rural-urban drift of especially the youth,” he said.

The Regional Minister said available records indicated that 22 district and municipal assemblies in the region spent a total of GH¢ 25,301 on electrification projects.

Mr Nyamekye Marfo suggested to the authorities of the VRA to award people who would help arrest people who would pilfer materials at the project site as well as saboteurs.

He urged the assemblies to set 'eagle-eye' measures to control such anti-social activities.

He asked the people to register during the bio-metric registration exercise to qualify them to exercise their franchise during the December presidential and parliamentary elections.

Alhaji Alhassan Seidu Harrison, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) said the sub-station would help irrigate about 30,000 hectares of land to enable farmers to undertake mechanised farming on commercial scale.

“This will increase agricultural productivity and… income levels of farmers, whilst employment opportunities would be created. This will also fulfill the promise of the government to ensure food security and put more money in the pockets of the people,” the MCE added.

Mr Charles Darku, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana GRIDCO said the company considered the sub-station project a key step in the realisation of its mandate to build a strong electric power grid that not only provided access to reliable electricity to consumers but also an open access to all electricity generators to dispatch energy onto the grid.

The capacity of the substation will also be high enough to supply power to various communities between Kintampo and Bamboi, which are not hooked to the National Electricity Grid.

GNA