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Prof. Bawa (second from right) and some stakeholders inspecting the exhibited products
THE Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has restored power to the Kejetia Market in Kumasi of the Ashanti Region, after disconnecting the same for four days due to a debt of over GH¢2 million.
Power was restored on Friday after the management of the market and the ECG entered into an agreement which would require the management of the market to make a daily GH¢100, 000 payment to the ECG.
The Ashanti West Public Relations Officer for ECG, Mr Benjamin Obeng Antwi,who confirmed the payment plan to the Ghanaian Times said the market would be plunged into darkness again if the management failed to honour the agreement.
He explained that as of August 12, the market owed GH¢2,112,909.46 which included a legacy debt of GH¢ 692,000.00, and outstanding bills of GH¢ 549,122.62 for May and GH¢ 873,488.06 for June.
Mr Antwi emphasised that failure to adhere to this payment plan could result legal action, which would be a last resort.
He stressed the importance of timely payments to help ECG maintain the electricity supply chain, complete ongoing projects in the Ashanti Region, and initiate new ones.
He also urged all customers to prioritise paying their electricity bills as a patriotic duty.
The power disconnection caused confusion among traders and market management, with some traders alleging that they had been consistently paying their bills.
Meanwhile, the President of the Federation of Kumasi Traders, Nana Akwasi Prempeh, has called for an investigation into the market management’s activities.
He stated that he was involved in distributing the electricity bills to traders and requested that the management provide data on non-payers.
He further said letters had been sent to the Local Government Ministry and other authorities requesting a probe.
With approximately 7,000 stalls in the market relying on a single bulk ECG meter, there had been repeated calls for individual metres.
Nana Prempeh noted that the market had awarded a contract to Tanja Electricals to install separate metres.
He highlighted that about 400 traders had paid for this service, but the installation work had stalled, raising concerns about the delays.
FROM KINGSLEY E. HOPE, KUMASI
