By Michael Pepsin Avorgah
Aflao (V/R), July 15, GNA – A prolonged power outage at Akporkploe and surrounding communities in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta Region is disrupting healthcare delivery at the Akporkploe Health Centre, raising concerns among residents and health authorities.
The facility has been without electricity for more than a week following a fault with the community’s transformer, disrupting essential medical services and exposing patients and staff to significant risks.
Mr David Agbokpe, Ketu South Municipal Health Director, confirmed the challenges facing the facility, describing the situation as a serious threat to healthcare delivery.
He said the outage had compromised the vaccine cold chain system because refrigerators could no longer maintain the temperatures required for safe vaccine storage, thereby risking their efficacy.
Mr Agbokpe said several laboratory and diagnostic equipment that depended on electricity had also become non-functional, limiting the facility’s capacity to provide timely and accurate medical services.
He appealed to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to urgently repair or replace the faulty transformer to restore power and enable the facility to deliver effective healthcare services.
Mr Mawutor Kpetsigo, Assembly Member for the Akporkploe Electoral Area, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the transformer serving the community was installed in 2012 when the population was relatively low.
He said the rapid growth in the number of households had placed excessive demand on the transformer, resulting in persistent low voltage in recent times before it eventually broke down.
“The current situation is making life very difficult for residents. People now have to travel to neighbouring communities just to charge their phones, while businesses are also suffering,” he said.
Mr Kpetsigo said the situation was particularly critical at the Akporkploe Health Centre, where the lack of electricity was hampering the delivery of essential healthcare services.
He said the outage had also created security concerns in the community, particularly at night, with cases of theft being recorded.
Mr Kpetsigo appealed to the ECG Regional Office to treat the situation as a matter of urgency to alleviate the hardship facing residents and restore critical services.
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah/Audrey Dekalu