The Kumasi Kejetia New Market in the Ashanti Region has been taken off the national grid by the Electricity Company of Ghana bringing trading activities at the facility to a halt.
The Electricity Company of Ghana on Tuesday cut power to the facility over outstanding debt.
A trusted source at the facility disclosed to OTEC News Jacob Agyenim Boateng that, the market owes GHC5.9 million arrears to the ECG company.
Traders at the market however accused management of refusing to pay the bills to ECG leading to the disconnection.
A visit to the market on Thursday May 11, 2023, showed that most of the traders were relying on their mobile phones and torch as a source of light.
Some of the traders who could not endure using torch lights in the pitch dark market were forced to close their shop for business.
An Executive Member of the Combined Kejetia Traders Association, Frank Antwi described the situation as worrying.
He noted that the use of one bulk metering system was making it difficult for managers of the facility to pay electricity bills.
“We have over 8,000 shops using one bulk meter, and the problem is, while others are paying their bills some are not paying, making it difficult to gather enough revenue to settle the bills.”
“We are appealing to management of the market to first work hard and collect outstanding bills from the traders and also provide individual meters to shops to avoid this problem,” he said.
Source: otecfmghana.com