AKOSOMBO, Ghana, 30th April: President John Dramani Mahama on Thursday, April 30, visited the Akosombo Dam to assess the extent of damage caused by the recent fire outbreak at a substation operated by the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo).
The blaze severely damaged critical equipment, resulting in the loss of more than 1,000 megawatts of power to the national grid and triggering intermittent electricity supply across several parts of the country.
Addressing engineers and officials at the site, President Mahama acknowledged the widespread impact of the incident on citizens and commended the resilience of the technical teams working to restore power.
“We heard about the sad event, the fire outbreak in your control room. And of course, Ghanaians have felt the impact of what happened. You work hard, but it’s not surprising because VRA has been one of the best organized state-owned enterprises” he said.
He further expressed confidence in the expertise of personnel at the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), noting their proven capacity to respond effectively to crises.
“So I’m not surprised that you have the kind of quality of human resource to be able to ameliorate what happened. And so when I heard that our engineers say they’re going to find a way of bringing it back on, I wasn’t surprise because I know VRA and GRIDCo have some of the best personnel you can ever get anywhere in the world”.
The President extended his appreciation to the engineers for their commitment and sacrifices in resolving the situation.
“So I want to thank you for the sacrifice. This is an act of God. I mean, who would have expected that the control room would develop this kind of fire? But of course, I hear it’s been there since 1964. So they say an adversity is an opportunity” he stated.
President Mahama indicated that the incident presents an opportunity to modernise the damaged infrastructure, particularly the control room, to enhance long-term efficiency and reliability.
“Because now that this adversity has happened, it gives us an opportunity to replace it with a more modern control room that will serve this Akosombo plant and let it work for more generations yet unborn. And so I told the minister I was coming here to see for myself the work you have done. He’s briefed me. You have four of the turbines back on. And he says that you’re working another miracle and that I’ll get good news soon with the remaining two turbines also coming back on” he said.
He also lauded both GRIDCo and VRA for their swift response and dedication in managing the crisis.
“So I want to thank you very much for what you’ve done, and we encourage you to continue to work. VRA will continue to be one of the foremost state-owned enterprises. GRIDCO and VRA, both of you, you are among the foremost. Twins of the same mother, GRIDCO and VRA. And we know that you’ll continue to work, and every support government can give you, we’ll continue to give you. Thank you very much” he said.
Story by: Emmanuel Romeo Tetteh (#RomeoWrites✍️) / Ahotoronline.com | Ghana🇬🇭
