The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), on Tuesday, commenced the deployment of pre-payment meters in the Krobo area in the Eastern Region under heavy military and police presence.
This portal can confirm that about 50 military personnel from the 49 Field Engineers Regiment and a number of police personnel were deployed to offer security and protection for staff of the ECG.
The Tema Regional ECG PRO, Sakyiwaa Mensah, told this portal that her outfit was working in collaboration with officers from the 49 Field Engineers Regiment to provide technical assistance with the installation of the prepaid meters in Krobo District.
She said ECG has had a long-standing relationship with the Ghana Military, spanning over two decades.
To speed up the installation exercise, Miss Sakyiwaa said, “We have drawn 90 extra technical staff from across our operational areas to help in the deployment.”
She added: “We are also working with our contractors to install the meters.”
She explained that the police would be on the field to provide security for the work they were doing, as has been the case since the inception of installation.
She told energynewsafrica.com that her outfit hopes to install as many meters within the shortest possible time due to the extra hands.
“Any customer who refuses the meters will have their power disconnected. Should a customer reconnect, they will be charged with an illegal connection. Should a customer decide to have a meter after a disconnection, they may have to apply for the service,” she warned.
The Municipal Chief Executive for Yilo Krobo, Eric Tetteh, urged all residents to cooperate with the ECG staff.
The installation of prepaid meters comes after years of an impasse between Krobo residents and ECG which escalated into devastating attacks on the ECG office in Somanya, consequently leading to a deadly crash with the police. The ECG office has since been shut down.
Residents vowed to resist the installation of prepaid meters while they called on ECG to write off debts owed by customers in Kroboland from 2018 to 2021.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com