Electricity Company Disconnects Debtors

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has intensified its �operation collect all billed revenue� it started last week in the Ashanti Region and has disconnected major government institutions which fall under the Special Load Tariff (SLT) groups. Officials and agents of the company last Tuesday undertook a massive disconnection exercise on the premises of clients in the residential, SLT and Mini SLT categories. There was, resistance from some traders in the metropolis, especially Kejetia who argued that the supply of power had been erratic resulting in increased cost of production. But the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of ECG, Erasmus Baidoo, told the Daily Graphic that the company was collecting bills of used power and not projected power. He said people could not use the current load shedding as an excuse for refusing to pay bills, saying the company would go all out to ensure that monies were collected for power used. The PRO reckoned that the exercise was going to affect some health facilities in the districts and some municipal assemblies but said the company was encouraged by a communiqu� from the Ministry of Finance last January which urged all government institutions to budget for electricity consumed and pay. He said the company was under huge financial stress to meet its target of supplying power to the country. Meanwhile, ECG on October 16, this year, disconnected an illegal connection done by some galamsey miners in their underground operation at Kototeasua-Abompe New Site at Obuasi. The operation, which followed a tip-off and continuous complaint by Anglogold Ashanti, Ghana, of the illegal miners who had not only encroached on some concessions of the mining giant, but were also depriving ECG of revenue through their illegal connections. However, the three-phased metre of the galamsey operators could not be retrieved at the site due to the resistance of the young men. Consequently, the ECG is collaborating with the military to monitor and ensure that the illegal miners do not return to the site and other potential areas.