Angry Krobo youth block roads with bonfire over dumsor

Some angry young people of Nuaso, Odumase Krobo in the Eastern Region, on Wednesday night set up a road blockade and set bonfires in protest to a three-day blackout in the area.

The irate young men say they are befuddled by the consistent nightly power cuts in that part of the country, especially since their forebears, from whom the land on which the Akosombo hydropower dam was built, had an agreement with the government to enjoy free electricity as compensation for their dispossession of the land by the government.

The marauding youth have threatened to beat up any staff of the Power Distribution Services (PDS) who dare step foot in the area.

Fire officers rushed to the scene but the youth slugged it out with them and stopped the firemen from putting out the blazing blockade which caused a gridlock.

The Minister of Energy, John Peter Amewu has promised the nation that regular power supply will be restored by 12 April 2019.

Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Amewu had said his ministry will ensure that power distributors inform end-users about the periods that they will not have electricity within the 12-day shortfall.

The main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and energy think tank Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), have demanded a load-shedding timetable.

The government has said that engineering works aimed at helping to transport gas from the western part of the country to the east, where the generation plants are located, is the reason for the outages, which are expected to cease by 12 April.

Responding to a question about the need for a load-shedding timetable in the interim, Mr Amewu said at an Economic Management Team (EMT) town hall meeting in Accra on Wednesday, 3 April 2019, that they “have directed the various agencies to provide information to areas that will not experience light being on”.

He continued: “For instance, I am told that in the Ashanti Region, most of these areas have already been informed prior to the shutdown. I am quite surprised why some of the areas are not receiving that information here in Accra because I always have it on my notice. They send me a notice that these areas will not be able to experience light on”.

He added: “Mr Vice-President, we will still insist that we intensify some work so that people who will be out of light, they will be made aware that they will not experience light…”

Source: classfmonline.com