The Electricity Company of Ghana says it will only restore power in the Kroboland when its men feel safe enough to enter the community.
Residents have been without power for two weeks following a disagreement between the community and ECG over the installation of pre-paid meters.
Speaking on the Point of View on Citi TV, the Public Relations Officer of ECG for the Tema Region, Sakyiwa Mensah explained why the ECG decided to disconnect the entire community and not individuals resisting the installation.
“It was mainly for safety reasons. By safety, we mean our workers felt threatened. Also, the life and property of consumers within the enclave were at risk. We were working on restoring the power. While at it, we realised that some consumers had on their own started connecting to transformers in other communities which had light. This was done with careless abandon. They did not know the extent of possible damage their actions could cause.”
“They even connected to high tension poles as well. This is an unauthorized entry into the network, and we consider it as illegal. We wanted to monitor what they had done to know how quickly to resolve the interference. Our staff and some military men went to Kwahu North and some residents started pelting stones at them. We had fibre cables cut in some places. Some of our men went to check this and were threatened by residents. They were forced to leave.”
She further explained that because of the interferences in connection done by some residents, the company was concerned about the safety of the power that would get to the end-user.
“Our mandate is to as much as possible provide safe electricity. We could provide the power, but what if we end up causing fire in 15 homes at a go?”
She noted that the company will restore the light once its workers feel safe.
“We should note that we are not forcing anyone to accept the meters.“
Residents have had a long-standing dispute with the power distribution company over supposed wrong estimation of bills and over-billing, which resulted in the death of a young man during a similar protest two years ago.
They contend that the installation of prepaid meters will not be any better and they want a direct supply of power from the Volta River Authority (VRA).
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