Tarkwa, Oct. 20, GNA - Candles, torch lights, rechargeable lamps and mobile telephones served as alternative energy sources at the Tarkwa and Effia Nkwanta hospitals in the western region on Sunday.

A power interruption in parts of the country compelled some hospital personnel to rely on energy saving rechargeable lamps and other means of power generation to perform surgery within the Western Region. As a result of the outage, the washing machine and drier and the theatre autoclave at the Tarkwa Government Hospital broke down.

A source at the Tarkwa Government Hospital told the GNA that though the hospital has a generator its capacity could not power the entire hospital. The Out Patients' Department of the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital was in total darkness and the administrator of the hospital, Mr. Asare Bediako Micah, said though the hospital has a generator it could not supply power to the entire hospital.

He said most parts of the hospital were very dark and many patients were inconvenienced due to the power outage which lasted for almost eight hours. 20 Oct 09