Committee inaugurated to curb electricity theft

Mr Seidu Kassim, the Assembly Member for Tanina Electoral Area in the Wa West District, has inaugurated a committee to check illegal electricity connections in the area to help curb the menace of electricity theft.

The committee is tasked to also receive, and report concerns of the people in the area as well as challenges associated with the access to and use of the services, including power outages to the Volta River Authority (VRA) for prompt attention.

The 17-member Electricity Watchdog Committee were selected from different sections of the electoral area.
Speaking at a brief ceremony in Tanina to inaugurate the committee, Mr Kasim said the initiative had become necessary following complaints from the VRA about the high illegal connection of electricity in the area and the need for concerted efforts to arrest the issue.

“All of us here have the responsibility to protect the resources we have in our communities, and electricity is one of them. The illegal connection can cause a lot of havoc to us. It can lead to fire outbreaks and we all will suffer it.

“The people (VRA) have made us know that if we don’t need the electricity, they need the transformer. If this transformer spoils right now it will be difficult for us to get one”, the Assembly Member said.

He, however, cautioned the members of the committee against attempting to fix any electricity challenge, saying, “your duty is to report to the VRA but not to climb any transformer to repair it.”

Madam Alimata Bamie, the Upper West Regional Customer Service Officer at VRA, expressed the hope that the committee would help reduce the illegal connection of electricity in the area to the barest minimum, if not end it.
She urged the community members to always pass information about electricity challenges through the committee to the VRA for timely resolution.

Madam Bamie also warned the public to desist from the illegal connection of electricity and said anyone caught in the act would be made to face full rigours of the law.

Naa Mwinisen Salia I, the Chief of Tanina, expressed profound gratitude to the Assembly Member and the people for the initiative to ensure that power outage in the area would be reduced.

Source: newsghana.com.gh