The Electricity Company of Ghana has begun the full deployment and installation of prepaid metres in the Krobo enclave in the Eastern Region.

Previous attempts at introducing prepaid meters in the Krobo enclave caused a rift between residents and workers of ECG, with a case where ECG officials were physically assaulted in the past.

But following a recent stakeholder consultation amongst interested parties aimed at finding an amicable solution, an agreement was arrived at to commence the process.

The Director of Customer Services for the Electricity Company of Ghana, Anokye Abebreseh said the deployment has been agreed to by leaders of the area.

“Last week, a tripartite committee comprising the Electricity Company of Ghana, National Security and the United Krobo Foundation met, and the agreement is that, ECG is going to install prepaid meters for which all of us have agreed, so we are going to deploy our men to the field, start the installation of prepayment meters,” he said.

Sakyiwaa Mensah, the PRO of ECG in the Tema Region, who has oversight responsibilities in that part of the Eastern region, said the day’s exercise has been encouraging, although there were still some residents who kicked against the installation of the prepaid meters.

“We have currently done 250 meters in the Kpone and Somanya areas. Some customers came on their own to request for the meters and some were replaced meters. We’ve had some good and bad experiences. Some of the customers still say they do not want the prepaid meters. The contractor installed about six in one of the areas and some of the residents agitated that they do not want the prepaid meters, so the contractor had to remove these meters.”

She explained that while there are police officers as part of the operation to provide protection for the installers, the presence of the military is only to provide technical support during the exercise.

“We have the support from these men in uniform as well, but they are here to provide technical support for the meter installation. ECG through our training school has been collaborating with the military for over two decades on electrical issues. It was decided that they should be part of the operation. The police are the ones providing security for the operation.”

Meanwhile, some community members of Lorlornyo, a suburb of Kpong in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality, who have been connected to the prepaid metering system by the Electricity Company of Ghana, are calling on other members of the community to embrace it.