Business News of Wednesday, 17 April 2013
Source: dailyguideghana.com
The Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), William Hutton-Mensah has announced the introduction of a new project to minimize the duration of the network outage.
The new project, Live-line work, is among a number of projects the company has embarked on to enhance efficiency in service delivery.
The project is aimed at carrying out planned maintenance work and fixing faults on energized network.
Mr. Hutton-Mensah said the project would benefit customers immensely as they will continue to enjoy electricity supply while the company simultaneously works on its distribution networks at all voltage levels.
“A contract to that effect has already been signed and our technicians are currently being trained on the project,” he said.
Mr. Hutton-Mensah disclosed this at the 10th ECG National Best Employee Awards held in Accra on Friday.
The event was held on the theme, “Positive Attitude: The Key to ECG’s Success.”
It was aimed at rewarding employers of the company for their efforts in the success story of ECG.
He observed that management of the company responded to the daunting and perennial system lose challenge by initiating the replacement of existing meters with smart prepayment meters and limiting meter tempering to the barest minimum.
“Management is improving upon the speed and accuracy of our billing process through the use of data loggers and the automatic meter reading technologies,” Mr. Hutton-Mensah noted.
He commended hardworking employees who won various prizes at the awards night.
Mr. Hutton-Mensah confirmed the statement made by President John Dramani Mahama that no load shedding will be undertaken during off-peak periods.
He said there has been an improvement in the supply situation and as such ECG has suspended the off peak load shedding as the company moves towards the stabilization of power supply.
“The fact is that there is an improvement in the supply situation and as such it is the duty of the utilities to graduate towards a normalization of power supply,” he said.
Consequently, he said any outage that would be experienced during off-peak periods would be as a result of equipment failure or a planned maintenance programme, adding that the company will soon publish a load shedding schedule to reflect the current improved situation.
“Our valued customers are encouraged to report any unexpected power cut to the ECG call center on 0302611611 for explanation or redress of the situation,” he said.
Emmanuel K. Bauh, Minister for Energy & Petroleum, said government, directed all Municipal and District Assemblies (MDAs) to install payment meters by the close of the month as part of the measures to mobilize revenue for the company.
He also encouraged the management of the company to completely resolve their revenue challenges.
“The expectation of government is that you will put your best foot forward in recouping what is owned you by customers,” he said.
Mr. Buah also charged the staff of ECG to buy into the concept of exhibiting positive attitude at the workplace, indicating that it is a key ingredient for good performance and corporate success.
“I wish to congratulate award winners for their various achievements,” he said.
Jonathan Asante, Principal technical engineer from the Accra West Region, won the overall best worker for the year 2012.
He was given a cash prize, certificate, plague, a laptop and an all-expense paid trip to any country in Europe.
The first and second runners up, Haruna Kpakpo Saka, best employee from the Accra West Region and Stehen Ackah, best employee for the Central Region took home cash prizes, plagues, laptops and certificates.