Commercial activities at the newly built Kejetia Market have come to a standstill after the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) disconnected power supply over accumulated debt.
myrepubliconline.com‘s checks at the market confirmed traders have been plunged into darkness and intense heat since the power was cut Wednesday evening.
Further investigations indicate traders at the market have defaulted payment of electricity bills for over 14 months hence the abrupt power cut.
The traders are said to owe the Company some GH¢5.4 million, a situation that has compelled officials to withdraw services to the state-of-the-art market.
The traders have already been complaining about exorbitant electricity bills they are faced with.
Speaking on Akoma FM‘s current affairs and political show GhanAkoma Thursday, June 23, one of the traders, Reuben Amey, lamented that “over 7,000 lockable shops at the facility are connected to only one meter and we have been complaining that we need our separate meters so we can manage our finances but for reasons best known to the market’s board of directors they have decided to force this single face meter on us”.
The single-faced meter, since the commissioning of the market, has met intense opposition from traders.
This is not the first time ECG has withdrawn services to the market over unpaid bills. The first happened in October, 2021, taking the timely intervention of Kumasi mayor Samuel Payn to restore the lights.
Then, the debt was hovering around GH¢435,000 but a year down the lane the traders’ arrears have surged to GH¢5.4 million.
Arise Community Television is picking information that the traders have proposed an indefinite closure of the market until their plea for individual shops to own electricity meters is settled.