No Light At The End Of The Tunnel

We all need signs of improvement in
any state, with expectations of hope that
circumstances will improve after
weathering the difficult situations.

There usually is light at the ends of a
tunnel; meaning for every toil there is
corresponding hope for a better future.

57 years down the line, Ghana had
started a journey of a thousand miles.
We had juggled through thick and thin.
We have manoeuvred through
unfavourable times, expecting that
someday something heart-warming
awaits us at the end of the dark tunnel.
We heard there was hope, we kind of
saw it. We entrusted the train into the
hands of some people. And just when we
thought it will get better, it all got dark
again!

So who took away the lights?

The unreliable erratic, irregular, power
supply leaves us not only devastated, but
exasperated. On the average, every
home now receives only six hours of
power supply daily. Nowadays, having
your lights on has become like a bizarre
astronomical event. It comes once in a
blue moon. The menace is having a toll
on industry and domestic consumers.
Companies are losing revenue and
laying off workers. Yet, we have thermal
plants sitting idle in Tema and
Tarkoradi, all because government does
not have money to buy crude oil.
The icing on the cake it that the Volta
River Authority and the Electricity
Company of Ghana have confirmed that
Ghanaians should embrace themselves
for more power outages, as there is no
end in sight for the power crisis. Mr.
Samuel Fletcher, Public relations Officer
says on Adom FM, 'We cannot give
specific timelines on dumsor, and we
don't know when it would end'.

Fuel prices can mount up their wings
like eagles, water tariffs can shoot up
like bazookas, graduates can remain
unemployed for as long as they will, our
leaders can continue to be corrupt; the
worst we will do is to fume and nag. The
best we can do is to wait for the year of
reckoning – 2016. But supplying us 12
hours of power and shutting it for 24
hours is a development will not take
lightly. No!

Such a cycle cannot exist, because
electricity is life. Somewhere in a
hospital, a pre-term baby is surviving
on an incubator. A barber makes a
living when his clippers get powered. So
ECG, refusing us what we pay for is the
most dreaded thing that ever happened
to us in this country. Denying us that
right amounts to personal
inconvenience which robs us of the few
amenities we are enjoying.

Recently, a seven-month old baby was
burnt to death following a power surge
at Kasoa. A 27-year old teacher also died
last year after an explosion caused her
TV to catch fire, killing her in the
process. We are also here complaining
instead of concentrating on our books
and jobs. Workers now sit idle at their
workplaces because computers are off.
So now, isn't it obvious why Ghana is
recording high rates of productivity?!

Dumsor is darkness, dumsor is
desperation, dumsor is despair, dumsor
is destruction, dumsor is distraction,
dumsor is despondency and there is too
much of it in the Dramani government.
The above statement is an assonance,
not politics. Ask any Literature student.

Six years in power, and we are now
looking for a way out. It's been four
years in the crisis, all we have been
exposed to, is a plethora of empty
promises. We now have to contend with
load management schedule due to a 500-
Megawatt production deficit.

A cold, objective, clinical analysis
reveals that the problem is not the
irregular gas supply from West African
Gas Pipeline (WAGPco). Neither is it the
poor inflows into the hydro dam. We
can't blame the collapse of 'cold store'
businesses on the erratic fuel supply
from Nigeria. The non-availability of
generating units isn't the reason for our
people wearing creased shirts to work.

You know what the problem is?
Irregular supply of practical solutions
from the minds of our educated leaders,
lack of technical minds, lack of
foresight from the seeming visionless
leaders and too much outflow of
promises from them. This is not a
political swipe at the government. These
are harmless verities we need to point
out.

Did we see this disaster befalling us?
Was there a blueprint to salvage the
adversity? Is there a current sketch on
the drawing board to give us
uninterrupted power supply?

Too much chastisement! Come on folks,
the problem isn't as bad as we think it
is. The President says there's hope.
Bohyeba JDM says there will be
production of the about 300 million
standard cubic feet of gas to feed the
production plants. But not so soon – it is
expected to materialise somewhere in
2016. Of course, projects like this are
best done during the election year.

Additionally, Ghana is yet to sign a $1
billion deal with US energy firm,
General Electric for the production of
1,000 Megawatts to enhance the
production of power supply.
In an attempt to appease Ghanaians, he
also sent the Managing Director of ECG
packing.

And Presido says he has prayed about
the power outages. You have soon
forgotten? Indeed, Ghanaians have
short memories.

And the Minister of Power, Dr.
Kwabena Donkor is optimistic as well.
He can beat his chest and assure you
he's working around the clock. Even the
last time, he issued a six-month
ultimatum to the management of VRA
and the Takoradi International
Company to salvage the situation.
Good progress! Shall we give them a
round of applause? Let's drink some JD
bitters to that.

You are not seeing all the good
attempts? Maybe because ECG has kept
us in darkness for long. So let's keep
calm. Things shall get better. Now, let's
settle down! Settle down!

Point is we are not seeing enough
commitment. The government is not
achieving results. Nothing is getting
better. The light at the end of the tunnel
is dimming out.

See, footballers can make all the brags;
do all the dribbles and juggles; sign all
the enviable contracts, shoot all the
skilful banana-kicks, run back and forth
on the pitch; but what we want to see at
the end of the day is a goal. And nobody
cares where the referee chooses to be in
the course of the match. What is of
concern to us is that he detects the fouls
and prescribes the right sanctions.
Period!

Like it is being said, press confabs are
not a solution to dumsor. Talk is cheap!
So before you start counting your
blessings and further making more
promises, please note that we are result-
oriented. Let the lights at the end justify
the means.

But come to think of it...sometimes the
light at the end of the tunnel is a freight
train heading to run you over! That
possibly is what the Minister of Power
is escaping by suggesting a resignation.
So you see, our leaders always find a
way out of the harm they cause, leaving
us to our fate.

It is time for pragmatism, it is time for
practicality and is time for...oh!
The lights just went out!

Patrick Fynn

(patrickfynn.blogspot.com)

Follow him on Twitter: @PatrickFynn)