The Ghana Electrical Contractors Association (GECA) has called on the government to revisit the concessionary arrangement under the Millennium Power Compact II to safeguard the assets of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The association is of the opinion that the Millennium Power Compact II, in which a private company or consortium will manage, operate and invest in the ECG for the next 25 years, was not in the interest of the workers of the ECG and the nation at large.
During his recent vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament (ACP), the Minister of Energy, Mr Boakye Agyarko, described the compact II as a concession and not an outright sale of the ECG.
But the President of the GECA, Nana Kwame Addo Tetebo, said the agreement, in its current state and form, if not revised, was likely to jeopardise the operations of the ECG.
Nana Tetebo was speaking at the seventh electrical wiring certificate awards presentation ceremony in Accra last Wednesday, during which certified electrical wiring professionals (CEWP) were admitted into the professional body.
Immediate action
He said workers of the ECG had complained on many occasions because the interest of the company was being sacrificed and called on the government to take immediate action to resolve the issue.
“Throughout last year, the workers of the ECG, together with Ghanaians, complained bitterly about the sale of the company. I think it is time the current government revisited the deal and made the necessary changes to reflect the general interests of Ghanaians,” he said.
Graduation
A total of 771 candidates were awarded certificates as members of the CEWP by the Energy Commission after successfully completing their courses in electrical wiring.
The Principal Programme Officer at the Energy Commission, Mr Solomon Sarpong, admonished the graduands to exhibit professionalism in their service.
“We are certifying competences of the graduands and not their attitudes, and so we will not hesitate to take their licences tomorrow if they go contrary to the law,” he cautioned.
He cautioned non-certified practitioners to halt their operations and identify themselves with the association in order not to find themselves on the wrong side of the law.
He urged dealers in electrical materials to ensure that only certified materials were sold to customers to prevent electrical fire related issues.
He said a mobile app designed to assist people to locate certified electrical wiring practitioners in the country was available and advised the dealers to make use of it for their benefit.
Criminal offence
The Public Relations Manager of the ECG, Mr Daniel Adjei-Larbi, advised the practitioners not to extort money from customers as they carried out their duties.
According to him, the ECG had information that some electrical wiring professionals, in the course of their duties, acted as middlemen for the company and extorted money from customers.
That, he said, was a criminal offence and warned that the company would ensure that those who engaged in such acts were arrested and prosecuted accordingly.
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