Stick To Load-Shedding Schedule - Prez Mahama Tells Managers Of Electricity

President John Dramani Mahama has tasked managers of electricity to stick to the load management schedule and put an end to the current erratic power cuts. He said while steps were being taken to generate more power to end the load management by the end of April, 2013, it was crucial that consumers were not burdened with intermittent power outages. President Mahama threw the challenge when he met the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Volta River Authority (VRA), Mr Kweku Awotwi; the Managing Director of Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Mr William Hutton Mensah, and the CEO of Ghana Grid Company, Mr Charles Darku, at the Flagstaff House, Kanda, Accra Thursday. Also at the meeting, which was held behind closed doors for more than two hours, were the Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, and the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Seth Terkper. A source close to the President told the Daily Graphic that President Mahama expressed worry at the persistent power cuts which were not part of the power management schedule. It said the President drew their attention to the effects of the erratic power cuts on businesses, and therefore the need for the power companies to address the situation. According to the source, the President stated that the government had provided all the support needed to maintain the load management schedule for the period. The source said the President was of the view that despite the reduction in power generation following the cut in gas supply from the West Africa Gas Company, the country still had a lot of generation capacity to handle the load management well. Therefore, it said, President Mahama impressed on the managers of power that "there should be no excuses" as far as the load management was concerned. According to the source, the managers of electricity assured President Mahama of their commitment to work according to the load management schedule. Meanwhile, the President used the occasion to charge the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) to improve on water supply to ease the burden on people. Before the meeting with the utility providers, the President had held a meeting with the Vice-President, Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah -Arthur, for about four hours.