The Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC), on Monday, summoned the management of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), to explain the causes and reasons for the recent power outages in the Greater Accra Region. For more than two-weeks, there have been persistent power outages, some of which were not communicated to the public leading to many complaints to the PURC, necessitating the meeting. Mr Stephen Adu, Executive Secretary of PURC, who chaired the meeting said, since the adjustments of tariffs, clients were supposed to be enjoying better and uninterrupted services, "but that has not been the case". He explained that since the adjustments of the new tariffs, services by ECG had been unsatisfactory and services paid for must be enjoyed by clients. Mr Adu complained that though the ECG had some of their power outages associated with emergencies beyond their control, they never communicated that to their clients, leaving them to their fate for the period that it took them to repair the damaged equipment. "Communication is very crucial in dealing with customers and you must endevour to communicate to them whenever there is a problem," he said. Mr Adu noted that the Legislative Instrument (LI) 1816 and 1935, which spelt out standards of performance and the penalties in violation, were still in force and could be applied. He explained that if the public had been notified of the problems encountered by the management of ECG three working days ahead, as stipulated in the LI, excluding emergencies, which could not be predicted, the public would understand and appreciate better than what "we have been made to go through". Mr Adu advised the management of ECG to adhere to the LI and always notify clients should there be the need for power outages to improve service delivery in order to avoid being sanctioned for non adherence to the LI. Dr Smart Yeboah, Director of Customer Services of ECG explained that, the management of ECG was embarking on projects that would enhance the quality of services provided to the public and though they sometimes did notify the public, most of the problems encountered a couple of weeks ago were emergencies that were not anticipated. He said the management of ECG would by the end of the year commission 30 prime sub-stations valued at about 10 million dollars throughout the country, to improve their services to customers and pledged to put up more in areas that such services would not be available for the clients. Dr Yeboah apologised to the public for the inconvenience caused and appealed for support in ensuring that areas that needed their services would be improved. Mr Bernard A.K. Nyatefe, Acting Director of Operations of ECG, who gave a highlight of the problems at Tema and Accra, explained that, the management of ECG had their main machines serving Accra East and West destroyed and that took some days to be repaired due to its severity. Both situations, which occurred one after the other he explained, were unpredicted and therefore could not notify their clients "but immediately after the damage, we announced that it would take three days to repair and we obeyed religiously." Source: GNA