President J. A. Kufuor was at the receiving end of the bitter side of the current energy crisis last Friday when his security men had to shove off people in the dark on three different occasions when there were intermittent power cuts during the commissioning of the Volta Star Textiles Limited formerly Juapong Textiles. A durbar of Chiefs and people of the Volta Region was in session to inaugurate the new Volta Star Textile Limited (VSTL) formerly known as the Juapong Textile Limited but the session was disrupted when there was a heavy rain, which left chiefs, Ministers, DCES, Members of Parliament, and other government officials running to take over. The rain that lasted for more than four hours saw the destruction of the beautifully erected sheds including the dais mounted for the President and this left the anxious crowd wondering as to whether the programme could come off since many thought the rain would prevent the President from attending the programme. To the surprise of the people, the President suddenly arrived in the rain and the chiefs who had earlier left the scene came out to welcome him. President Kufuor after exchanging greetings with the chiefs and people walked through the rain with the chiefs, led by the President of the Volta Region House of Chiefs, Togbega Gabusu IV, to unveil the plaque to signify the opening of the factory. A technical team at the factory then started leading the President to inspect some of the new equipment at the factory. Then came the first shocker of a power failure that rendered the production hall completely invisible. This development created panic and insecurity as security personnel had it tough protecting the President. The security personnel began pushing everybody in the dark, including chiefs, DCES, MPs and Members of the media in an effort to ensure adequate securi¬ty for the President. Shortly after, the lights came on and the President and his associates continued the tour of the factory. As if the first time was not enough, the lights went off again, raising the same security problems as before. They were back on after some minutes. Soon after, the third power outage was registered leaving all those who had gathered very confused. The public could not but rain insults on the ECG for the embarrassment, describing the power outages as a sign of disrespect to the President. The President later assured the chiefs and people in the region of government's commitment to make the factory viable to enable it compete favorably with international textile companies. President Kufuor announced that a power plant would be provided for the factory to sustain power to increase production. Source: The Chronicle