ECG reconnects power to Keta health directorate

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has reconnected power to the Keta municipal health directorate.

This follows an initial disconnection exercise carried out on the facility on Wednesday due to its indebtedness to the power distributor.

The disconnection sparked fears that vaccines being held in a storage facility at the health directorate risked losing their efficacy after some time.

The exercise forms part of a nationwide revenue mobilization exercise being undertaken by the power distributor to recover over 5 billion cedis from its debtors.

Public Relations Officer of ECG in the Volta Region, Benjamin Obeng Antwi, speaking with Selorm Adonoo on Eyewitness News disclosed that they agreed on a consensus on terms of payment with the hospital’s management hence the reconnection.

He explained that the last time the Keta health directorate made a payment was in 2021.

Mr. Obeng Antwi said power was restored to the facility on Friday, March 24, after it was disconnected from the national grid between Wednesday and Thursday.

He explained, “we visited the hospital on Monday to have some engagements with them regarding the debts. They owe us about GH₵24,000. The last time they made payments was in 2021, which is not fair to us. Our team told them to move the fridge containing the vaccines to the next place which was not part of the meter. They agreed but the next day, Tuesday when our team returned, the situation remained the same. We kept appealing to them to do the needful, but they didn’t heed to our advice. Unfortunately, the disconnection happened on Wednesday”.

He stressed, “hospitals in the region owe GH₵8.9 million, it’s a sensitive area, and we cannot disconnect their power, some have been owing for two to three years. We engaged all hospitals’ administrators on a roadmap for payments. So as we speak, the Keta health directorate has been reconnected since morning Friday”.

The ECG PRO in the Volta Region assured that the “vaccines are all intact and there’s no cause for alarm”.

 

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