Raphael Kornor
Staff of Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) have threatened to embark on a sit down strike and subsequently impress on the management of the power generator to cut power supply to customers indebted to it, which includes the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The action according to the staff association is necessitated by the failure of the companies to fulfill their debt obligations which is crippling the activities of GRIDCo.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra, National Chairman of Staff Group of GRIDCo, Raphael Kornor, said the indebtedness was not only affecting energy generation but is having a toll on the efforts of the company to continuously maintain its equipment.
He revealed that as at March 1, 2019, ECG’s outstanding debt to GRIDCo stood at GH¢607 million and another GH¢94,204,903.17 while VALCO owed it GH¢32,567,974.05 and NEDCo’s debt stood at GH¢177 million as at September 30, 2019.
Mr. Kornor indicated that the unavailability of funds to the company had forced it into rationing fuels for their staff’s travel for maintenance works while hoteliers have refused to make their facilities available to staff who travel for work due to their indebtedness.
He added that government had also not paid some GH¢250 million requested by the management of GRIDCo while it took steps to raise bonds to settle the legacy debt in the energy sector although the president had directed the Ministry of Finance to release the money.
“The first Energy Sector Levy Act bond which was raised by this present government in 2017/2018, our sister company, the VRA had over $550 million to settle their indebtedness with the banks but not a dime was given to GRIDCo to offset the ECG and VALCO indebtedness to us,” Mr. Kornor lamented.
He, therefore, called on government to as a matter of urgency settle the ECG and VALCO indebtedness to GRIDCo which he says has stalled some new projects being undertaken by the company.
He said if government failed to settle the debts, then they would be left with no choice but to embark on an industrial action, beginning with treating all emergency works as normal work within the normal working hours.
The association said if by close of work on December 4, the debts were not cleared, they would embark on a sit down strike and impress upon their management to cut power supply to all customers which are indebted to it.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak