Google search engine

The Paramount chief of the Manya Krobo Traditional Area, Nene Sakite, says the darkness residents in his community have been experiencing for the past 12 days is unacceptable.

He has expressed worry livelihoods are being lost whiles essential service providers struggle to store drugs and vaccines addressing a section of the media at his palace over the weekend .

“For the past couple of weeks, we have been in the dark. It had been bothering me. My children are losing their livelihoods. Artisans, cold store operators, tailors and even our hospitals. Although we are all feeling the pain, this is their livelihoods.The hospitals’ drugs are being messed up, it’s a big problem.”

Nene Sackite cautioned residents to desist from threatening ECG staff and pelting stones at them.

“One of the reasons why we are in the dark is that, even when ECG made up their mind to give us light and they went round to test the transformers, some people at Manya Kpongunor threatened them with stones and verbal threats”

“We can’t be doing so as a people. If you do that to them, what do you expect of them? We should try not to be intimidating people who come to fix the light for us. I don’t want to hear people inciting people, that’s a threat to our democracy and it has to stop,” he added.

He pointed out the recent cutting of a power pole was unacceptable. “Stop cutting them”

The Paramount Chief assured talks were ongoing to get the power back and called for calm heads.

“We have been overbilled, we talk to them about it, they went back and tell us that there has been a faulty software giving us the over billing, they are fixing it. They said anyone with questionable statement should come to them. That issue is being resolved, we would get to the bottom of it.

He added, “what I want to tell my people is that, ECG says they have prepaid, they won’t come to houses to read metre anymore, so that just like phones you buy credit and use. And I think that’s better and we have to embrace that.”

The ECG staff have cut off electricity to the area to demand safety for their workers.

Several road map decisions for an amicable end to the impasse hungs as both the ECG and residents take entrenched positions.

The ECG in a press statement asked residents to pay old bills from 2018 in a space of five years whiles bills from 2014 have been ringfenced.

The installation of prepaid metres has been successful in the Yilo Krobo Municipality, but some residents in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality are resisting the exercise for fear of being deducted old bills they are still contesting.

By Yvonne Neequaye|Eastern Reg.|Onuaonline.com