Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Chief Executive Officer of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, has stressed the need for the development of alternative energy sources to safeguard the current crisis that the country is going through. He called for the beginning of an aggressive programme to begin the manufacture and use of solar panels for domestic use to reduce the burden on the national electricity grid. Prof. Frimpong-Boateng was delivering the third of a series of lectures organised by the Western Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) as part of the activities marking the "Ghana at 50" celebrations at Takoradi. He said that apart from solar, geothermal, micro dams, wind energy, biogas and Ocean Thermal Energy Converter (OTEC) as well as Bio7-diesel should be promoted throughout the country to curtail the annual energy crisis. The country's engineers must develop simple technologies to facilitate the "day-to-day" lives of the people, he said. To facilitate this, Prof Frimpong-Boateng stressed the need for the establishment of a well-equipped Technical University to support the production of tools. All districts must also have well-equipped polytechnics with the requisite machinery to manufacture, re-design and mould technologies appropriate to the Ghanaian environment. He expressed regrets that while the advanced countries were still developing and using alternative energy sources African countries were still relying on hydro-electric dams. Prof. Frimpong-Boateng charged Ghanaians to "venture" into helping to solve the country's problems. He noted that even though the Western region was endowed with natural resources, it lacked the requisite infrastructure. Prof. Frimpong-Boateng urged the chiefs, churches, individuals as well as chief executives to play their roles to improve conditions in the region. The inhabitants of the Western region must "think alike" and develop the region "together," Prof. Frimpong-Boateng said. He urged Ghanaians to acquire "the skills and know how" that would enable them to transform their situation. The Shama-Ahanta-East Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr. Philip K. Nkrumah, stressed the determination of the various district, municipal and metropolitan assemblies to do their best to ensure national development. Source: GNA