The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) workers in the Krobo District of the Eastern Region have been asked to withdraw their services in troubled areas due to threats and attacks from the youth.
The Public Utility Workers Union (PUWU) which gave the directive to the staff who are members of the union, said they should remain in the District Office until further notice.
The PUWU General Secretary, Michael Nyantakyi, in an interview with the Ghanaian Times on Tuesday said with the current developments, it was clear that the ECG in the Krobo District had lost control over its network, posing serious safety risks to the lives of the staff and public property.
“The PUWU hereby calls on all stakeholders to engage the youth of the area and bring them to order so that the staff of ECG can go about their duties in the Krobo District in a safe and peaceful environment devoid of threats and physical attacks.
“Until a conducive working environment is guaranteed, where ECG staff can freely go about their duties to enhance the business of the company without the support of the security agencies in the municipalities, our members will not risk their lives any further,” he said.
Recounting the incidents that led to the directive, Mr Nyantakyi said, the long-standing disagreements over the installation of metres in the Yilo and the Lower Manyamunicipalities, were seemingly resolved during a series of engagements between the ECG, political authorities, religious leaders, the opinion leaders and the traditional authorities which paved the way for the exercise to start on May 18, 2022.
He said with the assistance of engineers from the 48 and 49 Engineer’s Regiments of the Ghana Armed Forces, the exercise started smoothly from Kpong, but when the ECG team got to Nuasu, on June 27, 2022, some residents of Nuasu protested that they do not want the prepaid metres in the area.
He said the team, therefore, halted the installation of the metres in the Lower ManyaKrobo to avoid any confrontation and proceeded to the YiloKrobo Municipality where the installation exercise has been ongoing without interruption.
“However, the recent development by some youth of Kporwunor, Maadam, Nuasu Old town and Agbom communities in the KroboDistrict does not guarantee the safety and lives of our members (ECG staff) in these areas.
“The persistent threats by the youth and the demonstration of violence put the lives of the ECG staff in danger,” he said, recalling how the youth there had been threatening the staff of ECG since 2019.
Last month, Mr Nyantakyi said, some youth of Krobo District tampered with ECG’s network, connecting power illegally, and deliberately cutting the fibre-optic connection.
He said they attempted to lynch two technicians who went there to mend the cut in the fibre network in Kporwunor while they burnt tyres, disconnected and removed installed prepaid meters.
BY NORMAN COOPER