The Electricity Company of Ghana, ECG, has closed down its Krobo District office in Somanya following a protest by some residents within the Yilo Krobo and Lower Manya Krobo Municipalities.
The closure took effect from December 1, according to a statement from the ECG in response to the protest.
The ECG said, “various written, and verbal threats were issued against the Staff of Krobo district and indeed, against ECG as a whole.”
“Management cannot risk the lives of our hardworking staff in such an unsafe environment,” it added.
The ECG further said the reliability of power supply in that area “will be dependent on availability of full Police escort for ECG’s engineers to attend to power supply challenges.”
It assured that it would continue to provide quality, safe and reliable electricity services to the other parts of the ECG district “where security of staff and installations are guaranteed.”
In view of this, the ECG noted that it has requested that the Inspector General of Police and all National Security agencies provide adequate security for all staff of ECG and all of ECG’s installations and facilities within the affected enclave.
These concerns emerged after a group called the united Krobo Foundation organised a demonstration against the introduction of prepaid meters.
The residents have had a long-standing dispute with the ECG over claims that bills are being wrongly estimated.
They contend that the installation of prepaid meters will further aggravate the tensions between the people and ECG.
The ECG assured that it was committed to a peaceful resolution of the impasse and improvement in revenue collection in the Krobo area to enable it to deliver on its mandate of providing quality, safe and reliable electricity services.
“ECG is therefore, open to continued dialogue and engagement with all stakeholders to ensure a peaceful environment conducive for normal operations.”
