Deputy minister of power,John-Jinapor
Deputy minister of power,John-Jinapor

The Ministry of Power will meet with officials from the Volta River Authority (VRA) following threats from the workers of the Authority to protest the alleged interference of the Ministry in their affairs.

The VRA workers say their actions are in response to attempts to cede the T3 plant in the Aboadze thermal enclave, MRP at the Tema Thermal Power station and a parcel of land at the Kpone Thermal Power Station to external parties.

The external parties include AMERI, Sunon-Asogli and the Ghana Power Generation Company (GPGC). According to the deputy power minister, John Jinapor, although they had not received a formal complaint from the VRA, the meeting is necessary to iron out any differences. “There’s been some miscommunication or misinformation. Neither I nor the Ministry have received any formal complaint from the staff of VRA. We heard that they had issued a statement and I saw it on social media and consulted my Minister and he gave some directives,” John Jinapor said on the Citi Breakfast Show.

“Today we are meeting with the VRA management and the Union as well so that we take all these issues, explain them and I’m sure that if they also have some suggestions or issues, they’ll bring that on board.” He, however, chided the VRA for failing to inform the Ministry about their concerns before going public with them. “I really wish that they had contacted us so that we could engage. If we had failed based on the engagement, then we could think of the next step,” John Jinapor said. The staff indicated that they intend to “embark on a series of legitimate actions effective Thursday, 4th August 2016.”

The letter, addressed to the Chief Executive of the VRA, explained that the staff “have resolved to utilize all available lawful means to resist the perpetration of unwarranted dissipation of the Authority’s assets.” The staff asserted that the listed entities “are a clear crucial to the sustenance of the Volta River Authority as a major player in the energy sector in Ghana and the West Africa Sub-region.” “We wish to state unequivocally that we are vehemently opposed to the overt and covert actions of the Ministry of Power which are in clear breach of section 2 Act 46, which establishes the Authority as an autonomous institution.”

source:citifmonline