The President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, has bemoaned the problems media houses are facing as a result of the ongoing erratic power supply.
The GJA President revealed that media houses are using money from their financial budgets to fuel generators in order to keep them running.
Relevant stakeholders have repeatedly called for the provision of a timetable for the recent erratic power supply.
Recently, the Ghana Union of Traders’ Associations (GUTA) has called for a swift and decisive resolution of the ongoing power outages in the country.
The negative impact of the power outages on the entire economy is overwhelming, according to the union, as it affects every sphere of productivity, from agriculture to trade to industry.
“Traders, shop owners, wholesalers, tailors and dressmakers, electricians, artisans, and all those who use electricity in their businesses are suffering a great setback as a result of this ‘Dumsor’ phenomenon, creating an unbearable situation for businesses in the country,” GUTA said in a statement.
Speaking in an interview on Joy News, monitored by atinkaonline.com, on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, GJA President Albert Kwabena Dwumfour highlighted that while media owners are encouraged to compensate their staff adequately, the additional expenses stemming from erratic power supply pose a significant obstacle.
“We are not interested in the politics around it; the fact still remains that it is really affecting us. Even aside from media practitioners, aside from the operations of the media, we are talking about the citizens. As media, we are the watchdogs of the people, and the Constitution empowers us to make sure we always protect the citizens. You understand, and this is one of our roles, and so that is why our platforms are actually used in propagating, communicating, educating, engaging, and informing our listeners (citizens).”
“Like you said, you expect employers or maybe media owners or heads to pay their staff very well, yet you are burdening them with a high cost of operations because, as you know, during the dumsor era, not every media house was doing 24 hours; based on the dumsor schedule (timetable), they were doing 5–12,” GJA President Albert Kwabena Dwumfour explained.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com | Vivian Adu
