The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has disconnected power to parts of Gomoa Potsin, leaving many residents and businesses without electricity for three days.
The disconnection happened after an argument between members of a household and an ECG monitoring team during an inspection. The team had reportedly identified a faulty electricity meter.
During the incident, one ECG staff member was injured. The company subsequently disconnected power to the affected area.
The three-day outage has affected businesses and made life difficult for residents. Some shop owners say they have lost goods and income because they cannot keep their products cold.
“I operate a drinking spot and sell ice cream. People are not buying because the drinks are not cold. The stock ice cream I had has also gone bad. Most potential customers also think I am not operating because of the darkness,” Elizabeth Tetteh, a business owner, lamented.
Residents have also raised concerns about security, saying the darkness has created an opportunity for criminals to operate.
Nana Yaw, a resident, said thieves had already taken advantage of the situation.
“We do not condone with violence and so we’re appealing with ECG to reconnect us to the grid. Those of us living at New Site are really suffering. Thieves took advantage of the darkness to break into one of my apartments to steal cables,” he said.
Chop bar operator Elizabeth Kpodo also said the power outage was affecting her daily income.
Cold store operator Azara said she had been forced to use a standby generator after some of her goods went bad.
“I sell meat and drinks and so I had to get a standby generator after some of the meat got rotten. We have been off for three days now,” she said.
Assemblyman for the Potsin Electoral Area, Ebenezer Adams, said the prolonged outage was putting the livelihoods of residents at risk.
He appealed to ECG to restore power to the community and promised to help the authorities identify and arrest the person who allegedly attacked the ECG staff member.
He also apologised to ECG on behalf of the community.
“We render an unqualified apology to them. They should temper justice with mercy and come and reconnect us to the national grid,” he said.
