Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr has accused the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) of installing a ‘fast running’ meter in his office which takes away all his credit at a go.
This meter, which he says has been christened ‘Usain Bolt’ due to its speed, Kwesi Pratt said, is making him lose a lot as a customer of the ‘name behind power in the country’.
According to him, the meter was installed in his office after the old one he had developed a fault.
“My meter was changed and replaced with a new one. I was happy when they decided to change the meter for me but that was even more serious, I was told it is called Usain Bolt, it runs more than an athlete at the Olympic games…this is so serious”, he lamented on Adom FM Thursday.
Kwesi Pratt Jnr said this while commenting on reports that the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) was complaining about the astronomical increases in utility tariffs.
According to the AGI, its members are paying more than the agreed utility tariffs announced by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) in December 2015.
Kwesi Pratt said they are not alone as his small newspaper printing business is also suffering from the higher electricity tariff.
“How can electricity bill that was around Ghs 300 move to Ghs 1200, when I complained, it jumped to Ghs1800; while we were still deliberating on this, it shot up to Ghs2000 something. The bill that was brought last month was just too serious, it was 6000 Ghana cedis, I don’t even know whether to cry or to laugh about this…,” he lamented further.
“Since birth, I have never seen a meter like that, herh, it is very dangerous…now, they tell me it is even impossible to top up credit on the meter, you have to wait for the credit to get finished and I simply can’t comprehend it,” he said.
Kwesi Pratt Jnr said one of his worst nightmares was when he was informed that he was owing even after purchasing credit unto the meter.
“I was told it is prepaid but how come they tell us we are owing…it is only in Ghana that you can use prepaid meters and still owe electricity charges which would be deducted when you purchase credit…,” he said.
The veteran journalist therefore called on Ghanaians to rise up and put pressure on the Electricity Company of Ghana to find a lasting solution to the meter crisis before everyone is put out of business because of high tariffs.
“We must solve this…this light issue is not about NDC or NPP…,” he said.
Source: adomonline.com
