East Gonja District To Demonstrate Over Exorbitant Bills

   

Communities in the East Gonja District in the Northern Region of Ghana are complaining bitterly over exorbitant electricity bills being levied on households and other users by the Volta River Authority (VRA).This issue topped the agenda for discussion at the last ordinary meeting of the East Gonja District Assembly at Salaga in December, 2011. Tabling the issue before the house for discussion, the Presiding Member of the Assembly, Mohammed Jakpa disclosed that, a number of communities including Salaga the district capital have expressed serious sentiments over the bills charged them by VRA .According to him, this comes at a time most people in the district also experience poor services including frequent power outages and power fluctuations most especially in the night. Thus, members of the East Gonja District Assembly and their communities have started mobilizing to demonstrate against officials of the VRA over what they deem as unnecessary power outages and huge bills brought to them at the end of every month. The Presiding Member in his ruling on the matter however, stated that given the enormity of the problem, he would refer it to the District Chief Executive and his Coordinating Directors to investigate the matter. Reacting to the concerns, the DCE Alhassan Mumuni noted that the concerns were very genuine and that the East Gonja District Security Council (DISEC) has analyzed the security implications of the frequent power fluctuations and outages especially during the night which according to him is very negative. He therefore, informed Assembly members that DISEC will soon organize a meeting with the Area Manager of the VRA to discuss the issues raised by Assembly Members. Meanwhile, the DCE announced that all projects earmarked for implementation during the year 2011 were 99 per cent completed.