ECG to improve power supply to Accra West

June 24, 2009
Page 31, 2009

Electricity supply to residents of Accra West is expected to improve in the next 12 weeks, the Accra West Regional Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Alhaji D.A. Jangu, has given the assurance.
He said by that period the company would have completed the current rehabilitation works to change old lines, among other things.
Alhaji Jangu gave the assurance an interview with the Daily Graphic when he paid a visit to the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) to acquaint himself with the power problems being experienced by the group.
"Currently, the ECG is undertaking six projects which will last six weeks. After that, we will undertake another six projects which will also last six week. All these are aimed at improving power supply to consumers," he said.
He appealed to residents to bear with the company as it took steps to improve on power supply.
He said most of the lines were old and very weak and, therefore, they could not function properly, hence the need to change them.
"Once this is done, the power situation will be stabilised," he emphasised.
He named some of the areas that had been experiencing power outages as Dansoman Exhibition and Kwashieman and charged residents of other areas who experienced power outages or fluctuations to inform the nearest ECG offices, since the company might not be aware of the situation.
He said last Friday’s rains did not affect the equipment of the company.
Alhaji Jangu said as part of efforts to check and improve its billing system, the company had, since 2005, introduced a software programme under which payments by customers were captured and updated regularly.
He said with the system, the staff did not need to ask for receipts from customers, as to whether they had paid or not, before carrying out a disconnection exercise, as that could easily be verified.
"Our only challenge is the banks through which people pay their bills. The banks do not inform us on a daily basis as to those who have paid," he said, adding that the company was discussing with the banks how the ECG could get daily information on those who had paid.
On the present state of introduction of prepaid meters, Alhaji Jangu said the exercise, through which 400 customers were given prepaid meters a day, was expected to be carried out at Kaneshie, Dansoman, Achimota and Bortiano, saying that "within the next six months we should be able to finish the whole of Accra West".
He said anybody who had a problem with the meters should contact the nearest ECG offices and indicated that the ECG had 400 prepaid vendors in the Accra West area alone to sell power to residents during the weekends, Sundays and on holidays.
He said the visit to the GCGL was part of an exercise being undertaken to identify the problems of major and minor customers and see how best the ECG could address them.