USE OF PRE-PAID METERS TO SALVAGE ECG'S FORTUNES (DAILY GRAPHIC, JUNE 27, 2009, PAGE 18)

THE Tema Regional Commercial Manager of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Mr Joe Agyemang, has indicated that the decision to use prepaid meters was taken to salvage the dwindling fortunes of the corporation.
Mr Agyemang made this disclosure at a forum organised by the Tema Youth Association on the concerns being expressed over the installation of prepaid metres in their homes.
He said the new meters allowed the consumer a free hand in determining how much power they wanted to consume, and to allow the ECG an opportunity to revive their revenue mobilisation efforts which was on the decline following illegal activities that were hindering the company’s operations.
Mr Agyemang told the gathering that consumers abused the old system of billing through tampering with the meters, as well as illegal connections, which had over the years seen consumers owing huge unpaid debts in their books.
“The installation of the new prepaid meters also allowed us to recover unpaid revenue, as consumers could not access power without settling the old bills,” Mr Agyemang remarked.
The Customer Service Engineer of the ECG, Mr William Arday, said the use of earth wires as part of the wiring system also contributed largely to the high consumption rate of the meters and cautioned residents against the practice.
The Dzaasetse of Tema Manhean, Nii Dzaase Leonard Adjetey, who represented the Tema Mantse, appealed to ECG officials to consider the income level of residents whose main occupation was fishing.
He said Tema Manhean was one of the poor communities within the Greater Accra Region, and that decisions taken without consulting them would not only impact negatively on their livelihoods but also put them in positions that might worsen their plight.
Mr Joseph Adjetey Mensah, the Vice- President of the Tema Youth Association, called on the leadership of the company to discuss the use of the prepaid meters with the tenants before going ahead to install them as it was disheartening to notice upon your return from work that your meter had been replaced with a prepaid one.
He said the forum had become necessary following recent rifts between residents and officials of the company over the installation of the new metres, which the residents thought the ECG adopted to cheat them.
Mr Arday assured the residents of the ECG’s commitment to providing satisfactory service to consumers, and appealed to residents to consider the usage of the new meters, which he described as more cost-effective and convenient.
The District Technical Officer of the ECG, Mr Enoch Martey, educated residents on the use of the prepaid meters.
Sections of the youth present at the forum appealed to the ECG to consider establishing vending stations within the community as residents often travelled about 30 kilometres from their places of abode to recharge their meters.