Load Shedding Schedule: Effective in South Africa But Not In Ghana

While Ghanaians have had to contend with three years of unstable power supply, it is regrettable that the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is still unable to follow its own schedule to shed load.

Meanwhile the situation is different in South Africa where a workable timetable is in place. So why not Ghana?

The South African power utility company ESKOM, which has had to cut some 2000 megawatts of power due to reduction in generation, is doing a lot to ameliorate the impact of load-shedding on the citizens. The company follows the load-shedding plan to the latter and also gives daily updates on the situation to its consumers.

On its social media platforms, the utility provider informs consumers about the ongoing crisis and some of the strategies being implemented as well as what customers can do to reduce the impact on their lives.

Television updates are also provided as if they were weather reports, while some customers even testify to receiving load-shedding schedules and reports via email.

Here in Ghana, the opposite is true. It seems the ECG itself is unaware of the exact times they will take and restore power. For example, their current timetable says Ghanaians are to enjoy 12 hours of power and have 24 hours off.

Yet, some residents in Ngleshi Amamfrom in the Ga South District of Accra, say they enjoy more power when they are not supposed to and go off when they do not expect.

In some localities, the lights are out each day and back on at night while others go through the 12 hours to 24 hours schedule.

The uncertainty makes life difficult for everyone living in Ghana today, especially small business owners who cannot afford alternative power systems. Barbering salons, tailoring shops, electronic repairers among others who rely solely on electricity to work are really suffering.

“If I knew exactly when I would go off and when the lights will come back, at least I can plan my activities and find new ways of conducting my business,” complains Nick who operates a photocopying and printing business on the campus of the University of Education, Winneba.

The sad reality is that, you will not be able to find anyone at the ECG to explain matters to you when you do not understand something concerning their services.

Nick says he got very disappointed when he walked to into the ECG office in Winneba to recharge his prepaid metre card. According to him, he had purchased GH₵10 and used over two months and ran out. When he went to the ECG office to purchase another GH₵10, he was told that he had incurred some taxes over the two months that he had not recharged, hence he had to pay GH₵13 extra.

Nick did not understand this and asked that the vendor explains further but she refused.

When he told me this, I called that ECG station to find out things for myself and that same vendor (one Setina Walker) refused to give to talk to me, saying she owes me no explanation.

I checked with a personal contact at the ECG office in Kasoa who explained that customers are supposed to pay some taxes each month, irrespective of whether they buy credit each month or not.

The truth is I had no idea of this until my contact explained matters to me. This means that ECG and its workers are not prepared to explain anything that is unclear to consumers; only consumers who have contacts within the company can access information.

If a country as big as South Africa, with a population more than twice that of Ghana (52,981,991), can provide real-time information and load-shedding schedules to help its people better manage their time and resources amid the current constraints, why can’t Ghana and ECG do same?

If workers of ECG feel too big to provide information to customers who may have questions or be dissatisfied with a service, then we have a lot to deal with as citizens beyond the unbearable lives we are all being subjected to as a result of the dumsor dumsor.

Source: Infoxdaily.com

By: Dorcas Efe Mensa ( Read more from Dorcas )

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