Workers of the Electricity Company of Ghana, ECG, have ended the first day of power consumption reading on meters in the Krobo area.
A combined team of ECG personnel from the Tema Regional Office and the Krobo District on Tuesday began the exercise under the behest of the Tema Region of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The personnel was divided into five teams and led by the Krobo district manager of the Company, Ing Edward Ochire conducted the exercise in various communities of the Kpong suburbs of Lorlornyo, Kpong station, Kpong Zongo, Star Villa among others.
Aside from the reading of the meters, the personnel also undertook a pre-installation survey ahead of the pre-paid metering system as well as checking of illegal connections.
The exercise scheduled to run over the next few months is intended to assist in the Company generating the monthly bills of its customers in the area.
Also involved in the exercise were officials of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) and Police personnel drawn from the Akuse police command who provided security for the ECG staff.
While some residents had no reservations, others said it will be difficult for them to pay the bills if they come out huge.
For others, they were concerned about the heavy security presence accompanying ECG workers saying it is intimidating.
Set aside our accumulated bills from 2014 to 2012 or declare as a bad debt -Krobo groups to ECG
Meanwhile, there seems to be no end in sight to the impasse between Krobo residents and the Electricity Company of Ghana.
Two Krobo youth groups in Eastern Region have tabled before ECG, fresh proposals a little over 24 hours after the power distributor restored power to the Yilo and Lower Manya Krobo Municipalities after 7 days of power cut over the impasse.
A joint statement issued Tuesday, December 14, 2021, by the groups -Kloma Hengme (KH) and Kloma Gbi (KG) stated that, while they partly welcome ECG’s proposal to ring-fence accumulated bills of customers in the area from 2014 to 2017, it also counter proposes to ECG that the disputed accumulated bills be ‘absorbed’ as bad debt or be ring-fenced up to July 2021 “to clean the slate for a fresh start”.
This, the groups believe would help to make headway on the impasse.
The groups explained that ” facts remain that between 2018 and today, (during which ECG either failed to serve bills or had difficulty doing so) many tenants changed homes and the difficulty landlords will face in getting these tenants who have moved out to pay such old bills could derail efforts geared toward finding a solution to the challenge at hand. In our estimations, these proposals are practical ones that will get people back to paying their bills and solving the problem once and for all. This is more like saying; we can and have to make some sacrifices now, to safeguard the future”.
The two groups were also described as wrong timing for the introduction of prepaid meters in the two Municipalities.
“Many have expressed concerns about the wrong timing of the introduction of prepaid meters – and the apprehension that the meters will be used to recoup the outstanding disputed ‘debt’.
We made the point that whilst we welcome the policy to roll out the prepaid metering system in the Krobo enclave, we hold the view, based on the concerns raised by many of our members and a cross-section of the citizenry, that introducing it at this material time when issues (and perceptions) of wrong bills are still rife will affect the acceptability of this new technology.
We suggested that considering the peculiar nature of the impasse, people were most likely to read various meanings into the exercise, including some perceiving it as a form of ”punishment”. We proposed that ECG temporarily suspend the rollout of the meters and rather focus on first addressing all outstanding issues to create a soft-landing spot for the implementation of the project” the State said.
Kloma Hengme and Kloma Gbi groups also want the Police to investigate the killing and maiming of their compatriots in the 2019 protest against overbilling by ECG.
Meanwhile, the two groups have dissociated themselves from threats to ECG staff and the proposition of free power supply by the United Krobo Foundation which it acknowledges as part of three groups that were fronting for the impasse with ECG to be resolved.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
