Management of Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) and Volta River Authority (VRA) have suspended their withdrawal of field service within the Tamale Metropolis and its environs.
It will be recalled that staff of NEDCo/VRA on Wednesday 9th March, 2022 had issue a statement announcing their withdrawal of field service in Tamale and its environs over what they described as “persistence attack” on their personnel within the Metropolis.
The decision was taken after a group of staff of NEDCo/VRA were attacked at Koblimahigu, a suburb of Tamale, when they visited the community for a routine monitoring exercise on Tuesday 08 March, 2022.
However, the management of NEDCo in a statement copied to Diamondfmonline.com indicated that, “we wish to inform the general public that following the relentless engagement with staff and other stakeholders and opinion leaders, and through the key intervention of officials such as the Northern Regional Minister and the Executive Secretary of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), the staff of NEDCo have resolved to suspend the withdrawal of their field services in Tamale and its environs with immediate effect for two weeks pending the resolution of the underlisted outstanding matters.
- The arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of the machete attacks on the NEDCo team that was on official duty at Koblimahagu on Tuesday, March 08, 2022.
- The provision of military cover for their field operators especially those that hinge on revenue collection and protection, namely disconnections, monitoring for power theft and the installation of Smart pre-payment Meters.
- The depending of on-going community engagement aimed at community ownership of the security of NEDCo field staff while they are on the field embarking on their legitimate duties.
Management of NEDCo while raising these demands also stated that, the resolution to resume work has not include Koblimahagu, as “the case of Koblimahagu is under further review as deeper engagements are underway”, they stated.
The staff of NEDCo/VRA further warned that, they will not hesitate to return to their earlier decision if the city authorities failed to address their demands, “while management wishes to assure the general public that it would not rest on its oars in getting the suspension converted into a permanent closure.
Story By: Alhassan Yakubu |www.diamondfmonline.com |Ghana
