The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in the Eastern Region has cautioned residents in the region to be wary of unscrupulous people making frantic efforts to infiltrate the electricity distribution network with illegal meters.
Mr Michael Baah, General Manager, Eastern Region, said two persons have been arrested in New Abirem District, while, three persons have also been arrested in Suhum District in connection with illegal meters and we’re currently assisting the Police in investigations.
“The company is therefore sending a strong signal to all people involved in such acts to stop,’’ he said.
He stated that the regional office was not going to rest on its oars but work hard to arrest and prosecute perpetrators or any persons with the intentions to undertake such criminal activities.
Mr Baah who was speaking during a press briefing in Koforidua explained that such illegal meters were also fake and have been affixed with stickers to appear as though it was coming from ECG.
He said the power company during investigation detected that such meters were of very low quality.
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“After installation on the blind side of the Company, the Company is not able to bill them thereby increasing system losses to the company over the years,” he said.
He also said samples detected in the New Abirem were molded in such a way that they could easily cause electrocution when touched by unsuspecting customers.
He furthermore said the illegal activity was putting a lot of pressure on ECG distribution transformers.
He said the overloading of ECG transformers by these illegal meters has contributed to the damage of most of the transformers, thereby causing huge financial losses to the company’s operational budget in the Eastern Region.
Mr Baah, therefore, admonished all customers and prospective customers to desist from acquiring meters from sources other than ECG.
He indicated that the company has enough meters to meet the demands of customers and has instructed the District Managers to hasten the meter acquisition process to help address the issue of delay in acquiring meters.
Adding, the company was making frantic efforts to improve its services and therefore entreated the public to help ECG serve them better.