New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central in the Central Region, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong has responded to incessant calls by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for the opposition to provide solutions to the energy crisis.
National Organiser of the NDC at a press conference in Accra yesterday called on the NPP to stop criticizing the government for failing to provide solutions to the current energy crisis and instead provide viable alternatives to ending the crisis.
“The NPP has no viable solution to the current energy crisis…”, Kofi Adams said at the press conference.
But the Legislator speaking on Oman Fm Thursday said the ‘NPP has more than necessary solutions to the energy crisis…and I will prove to Ghanaians why we are better managers,’ he said.
As part of the means toward solving the country’s energy needs and prevent a future crisis, the MP said the erstwhile Kufuor administration in addition to the Bui Dam project put in place measures to build mini hydro dams to complement the energy needs of the country.
The eight mini dams, he continued, were to be built on various river bodies in the country to provide electricity to the districts and municipalities within the catchment of the rivers to serve the energy needs of the towns and communities in them.
On their completion, municipalities and districts which were to be served under the mini dams would have been weaned off the national grid to help reduce the incessant pressure on the grid.
“In my constituency, one of the mini dams would have been built at the estuary of the Offin and Pra Rivers in Assin Awisam to serve Dunkwa-on-Offin, Attimokwa and Assin…there were several others all over the country…,” he said.
He revealed that as a means of facilitating the project, he spent close to GHC 30 million in constructing road to the mini dam site.
The NPP firebrand however did not indicate what happened to the mini dam projects with the exit of the NPP from government in 2009.
Citing examples in countries such as Thailand, India and Holland, Ken said the government should also explore the technology of producing energy from certain raw materials such as cassava and sugar cane.
Solar panels, he said should be built on various roofs of high rise and commercial buildings in the country for them to generate the needed energy for internal use so that power from the national grid can be used as a backup.
Several windmills, he added, should also be built at coastal locations especially for communities to make use of this kind of energy to power their non-commercial use.
He further encouraged the government to continue to make use of gas from the West African Gas Pipeline and the Ghana Gas to power the various badges in the country to help end the crisis.
Ken Agyapong indicated his willingness to help the government with all the necessary information to implement some of his suggestions if the government decides to approach him and his party to help end the power crisis.
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(Selorm) | 
(Nana Kwesi)