Two youth groups in the Krobo area in the eastern part of the Republic of Ghana are making fresh demands from the southern power distribution company, Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) a few days after the power distribution company restored power supply to Yilo and Manya Krobo Municipalities.
The groups are demanding that ECG ring-fence accumulated bills of customers in the area from 2014 to 2017 as bad debt or be ring-fenced up to July 2021 “to clean the slate for a fresh start.”
In a statement issued and jointly signed by Kloma Hengme (KH) and Kloma Gbi (KG), both expressed the hope that 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 suspends the rollout of the meters and rather focuses 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 2019 who protested against over-billing 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.
Joint media statement_Position paper of KH and KG_FINAL_14.12.21
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com