Is VRA Broke?

... Owes Cote d’Ivoire $60m
The reason Ivory Coast cut off power to Ghana recently is that the latter’s Volta River Authority owes the former an amount of $60 million, the minority National Democratic Congress (NDC’s) deputy ranking member on Mines and Energy, Alhaji Amadu Sorogho, has alleged.

“Apart from the technical reasons being given, the real cause is that we owe them. I have gone deep into the matter and have heard that the VRA owes them almost 60 million dollars,” he explained.

Alhaji Sorogho, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Abokobi-Madina, made the allegation at a forum organised by the Society of National Affairs (SONA) at the University of Ghana, Legon.

The forum, which brought together students as well as politicians from both the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the NDC, was on the theme: “Ghana’s Energy Crisis- Any Solution In Sight?”

He said Government did not do enough to avert the energy crisis, arguing it could have learnt from the 1998 energy crisis that befell the nation.

“When the NPP took over, there was no power crisis and I wonder if we cannot take what is happening as causing financial loss to the state.”

He said the energy crisis had caused incalculable loss to the nation, as it had affected it adversely in several ways.

“Factories are closing down. Workers are being laid off and education is being affected.”

Alhaji Sorogho said although no one prayed that problems should arise, there was the urgent need for Government to tackle problems head-on when they occurred.

He accused President J.A Kufuor of lying to Ghanaians when he stated in his state of the nation address that the energy crisis would be over within two weeks; but the situation had rather worsened.

The Minister of the Interior, Hon. Albert Kan Dapaah, dismissed Hon. Sorogho’s allegation that Ghana’s indebtedness to Ivory Coast was the cause of that country’s power supply cut off to Ghana.

“About the Ivorian issue, the truth of the matter is that they have technical problems. It is not money that is causing the problem. In fact, when we came to power, we were owing them more than we are today.”

He maintained that the unfortunate development followed production difficulties as a result of dwindling hydro-electric output and low gas supplies which had compelled the Ivorian authorities to start a load shedding exercise in some parts of Abidjan.

He however assured Ghanaians that Government was doing its best to ensure that uninterrupted power returned to the country.

Hon. Kan-Dapaah said Government had no apologies for not resorting to thermal energy, as that was too expensive, and Government deliberately decided not to adopt it.

He assured the students that he would consult the Minister for Energy to see if the university could at least be taken off the load-shedding exercise during its examination period.

The minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, Hon. Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, advised the students to be conscious of climate change and the need to protect the environment in whatever they did.

“As students, you have to be aware of the environmental impact of everything you do, otherwise Akosombo might be a desert.” He called on all Ghanaians to try as much as possible to conserve energy.

“Use energy-conserving bulbs and gadgets and do things that are environmentally-friendly.”

The Executive Director of SONA, Anane Agyei had earlier made an appeal that students of the university be given lights, at least, during their ongoing end of semester examination.