[ 2012-09-14 ]

Tamale residents kick against prepaid meters
Hundreds of residents Thursday morning poured onto
the major streets of Tamale to register their
displeasure at the installation of pre-paid meters
on their premises by officials of the Volta River
Authority (VRA).

Clad in red apparel and holding tree branches, the
demonstrators danced to gong-gong beats and
displayed placards some of which read, "We do not
like the new meters"; "Take your faulty meters
away"; and "Your gargantuan meters are dissipating
our incomes."

They insisted that the VRA, as a matter of
urgency, should remove all the new meters.

They claimed that the VRA did not consult them as
major stakeholders before installing the meters
and described the action by the power provider as
unilateral.

The residents later presented a petition to the
Northern Regional Coordinating Director, Mr
Alhassan Issahak, who promised to send their
grievances to the right quarters for the necessary
attention as the regional minister was not readily
available.

Most residents have also complained about the
frequent rate at which they purchased credit for
power and claimed that either the new meters were
faulty or the consumers were being short-changed.


The Human Resource Manager of VRA, Mr John Teye
however denied all the charges and claimed that
before the installation exercise, his outfit had
sensitised the people to its usage. "We even went
as far to the mosques to inform the people," he
said.

"The truth about the matter is that with this new
meter, consumers cannot do any by-pass to steal
power lest there would be no reason for the change
of the meters," he maintained.

According Mr Teye, "with the old meters people
could buy power for GH¢50 and use it for over six
months because of the by-pass".

He further advised the consumers to exercise
maximum restraint and to contact the management
for verification and redress of the difficulties
they might be encountering with the new system.

Source - Daily Graphic

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