No ‘dumsor’ during Christmas – ECG assures Ghanaians

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The Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Mr. Kwame Agyemen-Budu has assured the general public that the company has put in place mechanisms to forestall any power outages during the festive season.

The mechanism includes the deployment of some selected engineers of the company who will be on standby 24/7, to attend to electrical and technical challenges.

In addition there would be a Fault Intervention Team that would be well equipped to give support in emergency situations.

Tour

The MD said the teams were already undertaking full-scale maintenance in some areas which, by the company’s assessment, needed to be given some attention.

Alongside the tour, which began on November 18, this year, regional durbars were held during which he interacted with the staff of the company to outline his vision and identify their challenges.

“My vision is to run the company to mirror the private sector mechanisms of delivering at cost and profit considerations and where performance indicators form the basis of enforcement,” Mr Agyeman – Budu told the Daily Graphic.

Staff reaction

During the regional fora, the leadership of the Public Utilities Workers Union (PUWU) pledged their support to help improve operations and growth of the company.

The staff, nonetheless, requested that the necessary logistics be provided and urged the MD to reduce political interference in the running of the company.

They explained that the absence or reduction of political interference in the company’s affairs would empower them to perform better and subsequently contribute to the growth of the company.

Vision

The Managing Director of the ECG said some key thematic strategies to be focused on included reducing expenditure, having reliable power supply, improving revenue collection and ensuring excellent customer service delivery.

In addition, he said, he would ensure that procurement processes in terms of materials purchased and their quality were stringent in order to reap value for money.

“We will also reduce technical and commercial losses through intensification and improvement of system maintenance works and capture all uncaptured metres as well as reduce illegal connections,” he said.

Mr Agyeman-Budu said further that even though the company was unable to hit a 100 per cent revenue mobilisation target, he was committed to providing logistics needed to realise the target and assured staff that there would be awards and incentives to improve the situation.

“Service delivery will be greatly improved in my two-year plan by way of introducing best business practices and continuous penetration of smart metres among others,” he noted.

He commended the public for their support throughout the year and gave the assurance that the workers and management of the ECG were resolved to perform creditably on their mandate to deliver reliable, safe and quality power supply.

By Emmanuel Amewugah, Daily Mail GH