According to the US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson, his outfit has consistently appealed to the utility company to provide it with a bill for its power consumption over the period but that ECG has failed to do so.

But the Public Utility Workers’ Unions (PUWU) insist that the Embassy does not owe it.

[contextly_sidebar id=”vVblOU1lFuLSSyjijNBUqC5qoCL3jPd6″]The Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko recently descended on the Electricity Company of Ghana over what he saw was rot in their system which allowed many to slip through without paying bills.

He noted that the American Embassy’s 160 facilities in Ghana had not been billed for two years.

“American Embassy has 160 facilities in Ghana. They have not been billed for two years. So they went to ECG and said ‘look, we owe you money. Bring us a bill. Bring us pre-paid meters. We will use it for one year, and whenever we use, we will multiply it by 3 and give it to you.’ Up to now, the ECG hasn’t been able to do that,” Mr. Agyarko said.

The Public Utilities Workers’ Union (PUWU) in a response to Mr. Agyarko challenged his statement and told him to stay away from such “minor” issues and focus on providing strategic directions for the company.

The US Embassy however in series of tweets confirmed the Minister’s statement and said that it had set some funds aside to make the payments but was awaiting an official bill from the ECG.

The General Secretary of PUWU, Michael Adumatta Nyantakyi in a subsequent Citi News interview denied the company was owed money by the Embassy.

He said the Embassy had made up-to-date payments for all its installations and his records show that even as at February 2017, they Embassy had paid its electricity bills.

But the US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson told Citi News’ Pius Amihere Eduku that the Embassy would not pay if ECG does not provide it with an official bill.

“The whole controversy about whether the American Embassy has been able to get an itemized bill in two years exemplifies some of the real challenges that the ECG is facing. We have set aside money to pay our bill to ECG but ECG has not been able to give us an itemized bill. I want to know how much electricity I’m using and until someone can tell me that, I’m not going to pay.”

He said the fund set aside by the Embassy to pay the bills is sufficient to cater for all its bills if the utility service provider submits a bill.

Possible legal action

The Ambassador said he was confident that their action is legal.

“I don’t think that any court would say that ECG has the right to demand payment when they cannot tell us what services have been provided.”

Prepaid meters

Ambassador Jackson revealed that the Embassy had some prepaid meters installed on its properties but refused to pay bills for those meters after it noticed that the ECG had tied the meter to its [US Embassy’s] property as well as other adjoining non-US embassy facilities.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ECG’s failure to provide bills show inefficiencies – US Ambassador appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He said it is within the ability of the country to manage the company and make it work without giving it out on concession to a private company.

He said the American Compact agreement is a support, and should not be allowed to push the country to go into some arrangements which would ultimately not inure to the benefit of the generality of Ghanaians.

Mr. Nyantakyi said “so far looking at the items under the concession arrangement, it is only the private foreign investor who would smile to the market at the detriment of the average Ghanaian who would suffer serious high tariffs and challenges that may come with the privatization of the company”

Mr. Nyantakyi said this on the sidelines of a National Divisional Executives meeting in Tema.

The National Executive meeting brought together junior and senior staff throughout the country, to discuss issues regarding the company, as well as the ECG concession which has been top on the agenda of the workers.

He said “though the compact could be beneficial, government must take a second look at the proposal for the private sector participation and tweak it in a manner that ECG would be able to operate efficiently and profitably for the benefit of Ghana and Ghanaians.”

Mr. Nyantakyi said ECG is a vital national asset whose problems could be easily resolved if government stops interfering, and allows it to work efficiently as an independent business entity.

“We believe ECG is a vital national asset, and the problems facing the company are such that it can be easily resolved if the necessary political support and interference is cut out, and the company is allowed to operate efficiently as any independent corporate entity,” he said.

He said it is within the ability of Ghana and Ghanaians to turn ECG around, and make it more viable, adding that it is unfortunate that after 60 years of independence, government cannot take up  an entity such as the Electricity Company of Ghana, and manage it fully.

“Government cannot say that after 60 years of independence, it cannot manage a company such as the Electricity Company of Ghana and make it operate efficiently.”

Mr. Nyantakyi said although the union is not entirely against the American concession, government must critically look through the compact, and must not be coerced in taking a decision which will not inure to the good of Ghanaians.

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By: Elvis Washington/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Ghanaians to pay high tariffs under ECG concession – PUWU warns appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.