Two to pay ECG 19,000 cedis for illegal connection

Two enterprises in Cape Coast have been surcharged over 19,000 by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for illegal connection and use of electricity.

The two, the Community Gardens at Bakaano and the Nii Doudu Boutique at Brofoyerdur are commercial customers of the ECG.

The two were rounded up in surprise checks on Saturday night in the communities.

The Community Gardens has been surcharged to pay 13,810.60 cedis while the Nii Doudu Boutique will pay 5,434.49 cedis.

They have a week to pay the monies.

The Central Regional Public Relations officer of the ECG, Mr Isaac Nurris Ainooson said the Community Gardens which used the illegal connection for over a year has paid 5,400 cedis to the ECG after the exercise. Nii Doudu Boutique, he said, had also paid 2,000 of the surcharge to the ECG.

Mr Ainooson said the ECG does its routine consumption monitoring usually in the mornings. However, he indicated that it decided to do additional checks in the nights following tip offs that some enterprises were illegally connecting to ECG power lines in the evening for their business activities.

Mr Ainooson said the loss control unit of the company embarked on the exercise on Friday and Saturday and arrested the two.

“They use these connections popularly called by-pass. They disconnect their meters and connect their usage directly to ECG supply points so their meters do not record the consumption,” he explained.

He said the ECG was determined to clamp down on all who were using its power illegally saying the activities of these were crippling the company’s operations, adding that anybody caught would be made to face the law.