The United States Embassy does not owe the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
This is according to Michael Adumatta Nyantakyi, the General Secretary of the Public Utilities Workers Union of TUC (PUWU) has revealed that the US Embassy has no outstanding bills to pay.
He revealed that the US Embassy has no outstanding bills to pay ECG contrary to what is being alleged.
His comment comes after Minister of Energy, Mr Boakye Agyarko, in a stunning revelation, disclosed that the US Embassy in Ghana and telecom giant MTN Ghana, owe the ECG several million Cedis of power supplied.
While the exact outstanding amount owed ECG by the American Embassy with over 160 facilities across the country was not readily available, MTN on its part says it has an outstanding GHC35million debt to pay the state power distributor.
This development, Mr. Boakye Agyarko maintained may lead to its collapse if they are not remedied urgently.
But Mr. Nyantakyi on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Tuesday said the information put out by the Sector Minister is inaccurate.
“From the information I have, the US does not owe ECG. They have paid all their bills” he stressed.
However, he indicated that, the US Embassy requested for prepaid metres for their staff and other facilities but when they were asked to pay for that service, they did not get back to ECG again.
Mr. Nyantakyi could not fathom why the power distributor which is cash trapped will sit aloof and allow the US Embassy sit on such colossal amount of money.
“We need money as ECG so why will we decide not to collect money from the US Embassy when they are ready to pay” he quizzed.
The PUWU General Secretary said such wild allegation can only be borne out of the government decision to sell ECG.
Reacting to the MTN issue, Mr. Nyantakyi conceded that the telecom giant owed ECG but some reconciliations are being done to address the issue.
He, however, noted that, the government is to blame for the seeming collapse of ECG because MMDAs owe them.
Mr. Nyantakyi said there are bigger issue to make ECG operate efficiently, “and we thought that these are the issues which should occupy the mind and attention of the Minister”.
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