The explanations given by Energy Minister for the intermittent power outages currently being experienced in Ghana and the report that 4,000 critical care and 3,000 peri-operative nurses are needed to meet holistic healthcare demand in Ghana are some of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Times reports that the Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has explained that the intermittent power outages currently being experienced in the country are as a result of some transmission challenges, assuring that efforts are underway to resolve it within the next few months.
According to him, government considered what was happening seriously and was working with all the agencies involved to find a permanent resolution to the issues.
Dr. Prempeh gave the explanation in Accra last Thursday when he jointly addressed the media with officials of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo).
He noted that the situation had nothing to do with generation as the country was currently generating more than it required despite the temporary closure of the Bui Hydro-generating Dam.
On his part, the Director, Systems and Operations at GRIDCo, Mr. Mark Baah said the company was currently undertaking some key projects to enhance the supply and reliability of power in the country, with special emphasise on Accra and Kumasi.
Some of the projects he outlined as the Millennium Development Authority (MIDA) funded Pokuase sub-station and Kasoa Bulk Supply Point installation, the French Development Agency (AFD) funded Tema-Accra transmission line reinforcement project and the 330kV Kumasi–Kintampo transmission line.
The newspaper says that Ghana requires at least 4,000 critical care and 3,000 peri-operative nurses to meet holistic healthcare demand in the country.
Currently, of an estimated 700 trained critical care nurses, about 400 are in active practice while the country boasts only 530 peri-operative nurses, serving in various health facilities.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic which has brought ‘pressure’ on health staff, immediate past president of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), Dr. Kwaku Asante-Krobea, has urged government to as a matter of urgency invest in the specialty to save more lives needing emergency care in the country.
“As we own this as an obligation and see this as a serious business we will dare to execute, we challenge the government to provide the resources for the training of these professionals,” he pleaded, while addressing a joint graduation ceremony in Accra, last Thursday.
A total of 492 students from four health institutions including the Ophthalmic Nursing School (Korle Bu), School of Peri-Operative and Critical Care Nursing (Korle Bu), Public Health Nurses School (Korle Bu) and the School of Anaesthesia and Critical Care (Ridge), graduated.
Speaking on the theme; “COVID-19: The Role of the Specialised Nurse,” Dr. Asante-Krobea who is also Principal of the School of Peri-Operative and Critical Care Nursing (Korle Bu) said the COVID-19 pandemic has affirmed the need to scale up training of nurses into the field.
He stressed that global health coverage and other health goals may not be achieved if nurses and midwives who make up 75 per cent of the health sector workforce are not empowered.
“It is the responsibility of governments to strengthen and invest in specialised nursing education for the critical workforce to have a triple impact of promoting health, advancing gender equality and strengthening local economies.”
“A long-term goal is to raise the profile of nursing and midwifery globally and any such positive action from government will engender public confidence in the slowly dying health system,” he appealed.
The Graphic reports that the Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Mr. Kwame Agyeman-Budu, has asked residents of Kumasi in the Ashanti region to brace up for more power outages from now till the end of the year.
He said the current situation of unannounced power outages could persist till the end of the year by which time the company would have resolved the challenges facing its power systems.
According to him, the situation being experienced by a section of residents in Kumasi and its environs was due to system challenges and not generation problems.
However, he said the company was unable to provide a timetable for the power outage as there was no planned programme to take off power.
“We take off power as and when GRIDCo reduces power supply to us so as at now, we cannot tell when and where will go off at a particular time”, he said.
Addressing the media in Kumasi, Mr. Agyeman-Budu said that the overload on its Ridge Bulk Supply Point (BSP) always caused the system to fail especially during peak hours.
Aside from them, he said due to the long distance of the region from the production point, there was always a drop in voltage and the issue “is compounded during peak hours.“
He said government was currently building a 330 KV line from Anwomanso to northern Ghana where power would be transmitted directly to the northern part of the country and thus take off the load on the Ridge BSP.
GIK/APA