Accra (Greater Accra) 11 July 2001
Members of Parliament on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction about the operations of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and demanded that it reasserts itself.
The lawmakers said life in the country was becoming unbearable as a result of rampant power outages, low voltages and high bills.
Mr Kofi Poku Adusei, NPP-Bekwai, whose statement members supported said "more often than not, electricity users experience power outages without any notice from ECG. This has always had tremendous negative effects on individuals and industrial concerns."
The member said if constant power supply could not be guaranteed then Ghanaians should forget about attracting foreign investors and having a prosperous life.
He commended the ECG for publishing identities of those who owe it since that practice would help it to collect its huge unpaid bills.
Mr Modestus Ahiable, NDC-Ketu North, said ECG could lose everything it owns if Ghanaians started suing them for their poor delivery.
He said the bills ECG sent after the recent increase in tariffs, were well above the Public Utilities Regulatory Board's (PURC) approved 103 per cent.
" We still use the energy saving devices, gadgets and still we do not see any improvement in our energy consumption regime. There must be something wrong. ECG must sit up."
Mr Kwabena Safo,NPP-Offinso South, said his constituents have lost confidence in ECG.
He said the situation was even hampering the extension of the rural electrification programme "because the people often say why do we buy poles and dress them with copper wires only to sleep in darkness".
GRi…/
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