In two of his State of the Nation addresses on the Coronavirus (Covid-19) issues, H.E. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo stated that the government will absorb three months full electricity bills for those in the lowest bracket (0-50 kilowatts [KW] per month lifeline costumers) and half for those in the upper bracket (above 50KW per month costumers), then he went on to state that the government was going to absorb all water bills for three months.
Of course, this sounded very good and many were Ghanaians who rejoiced. But was this actually going to happen in practice?
Let us go for light as an example, if you are on pre-paid, you still have to purchase your light, and according to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), you will be given twice what you paid for, which will show as credit on your meter if you are a lifeline consumer, and one and a half times if you are an above 50KW a month consumer.
This can be tricky because reading your meter can be problematic, but, any way, let us assume the right things are done and the consumer receives the gift package from the government.
There is some big issue though and it has got to do with those in the lower bracket and bottom of the upper bracket. It has become the practice of the ECG to take out whatever balance is on account at the end of every month, plunging the poor customers into darkness. We are told that this accounts for taxes for lighting for street lights which are never on, any way, and rural electrification, which is also in the doubtful category. Same is deducted from the accounts of those in the upper bracket, but because they have lots on their credit, they do not usually get lights out. Lights do go off when they are low on credit.
I was expecting that with the government absorbing light bills, customers will cross over to the following months without facing any outages.
I was in a meeting with some friends on April 30, 2020 in an apartment of one of them who was in the lower bracket. It was around 9:30 pm when the lights went off, and then a number of apartments around were also visited with darkness. The apartment owner told us their story. He had purchased credit on his card but he would not swap it on his meter until after midnight or early morning, in case the ECG decided to take that one as well.
The question is why is the ECG treating customers so? Why does it always decide to take out power in the night when people need it most? How is the ECG managing this government package to Ghanaians so that everybody benefits?
On April 6, 2020, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), stated that all those who defaulted in paying their water bills would not enjoy the free water from the government. If that is so, then will their free water be used to offset their outstanding bills?
To me, it is like you borrowed money and your account goes red, any credit paid into that account will go and clear part of or the entire loan. So if your debtor is gifted water, is it not reasonable to use it to offset their indebtedness to you by not serving them any water? But from the look of things, these poor debtors will not enjoy water now, or even after the gift period expires.
What is so unique about defaulting in the payment of water bills? The unique thing is the billing system of the GWCL. Costumers are billed seasonally and not monthly. One comes home to meet a bill for water usage for the past three or six months staring at his face, and he is expected to pay in full immediately or the supply will be disconnected. Legally he owes, but morally he cannot be expected to cough out money to pay a six month bill; a repayment schedule should be arranged.
Maybe, to address this, the GWCL attempted introducing a pre-paid system, but for reasons best known to the company, it immediately shelved the idea. I will not be surprised that all defaulters are in this situation because of the GWCL billing system. If the bills came monthly they could certainly afford to pay, but to be forced to pay a bill which could be more than one’s gross monthly salary cannot be attainable, and this is not fair. Certainly, it is not fair to punish defaulters through no fault of theirs.
Another thing about this free water thing is that most homes connected to the GWCL pipelines have not had water flowing through their taps ever since day one. Residents buy water every day. Now the question is how will they enjoy the free water from government?
Talking about buying water, I remember about seven years, as a parent of Achimota School, I had to buy water for my daughter’s house when there was an acute water shortage. I went to the GWLC facility near Jubilee House and paid for two or three tankers of water at the same cost as I would have to pay if the water had run through my taps. The water was supplied.
Three years ago, I went to the same facility to buy water for my parish, only to meet a new system. GWCL had sold off all its tankers and awarded the supply of water through tankers to private individuals. Officials of GWCL were now acting as goro boys, connecting me to the best deal. I had someone to deliver the water, but at an extra cost compared to the cost of water if it had run through the taps.
Since we are in free water season, I was very glad to have responded to a priest friend of mine who thought I could assist him get water for his mother. I called my man and he gave me another supplier. He will charge GH¢250 within Accra, but what about the free water delivery promised by government? I was told that was government and they do not do government. So where did they get that processed and purified water from, and was it at a cost?
The GWCL must be informed that the free water that the government is paying for is not getting to everybody due to the very systems the company has put in place. And it is very wrong to deny people water, which is life, especially if it is a free gift from government.
The ECG and GWLC must up their game and be responsible, unless they want the government’s policy of free electricity and free water to fail.
Hon. Daniel Dugan
The post Let there be light, let there be water appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS