Kejetia traders demand individual meters to end persistent power cuts

Traders at the Kejetia Market have demanded that individual power meters be installed for the smooth running of their activities to end power disconnections.

This comes after the market was plunged into darkness for more than three days after the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) disconnected the market from the national power grid due to a GH¢70 million debt owed to the ECG.

Currently, the traders are relying on a generator set to be able to run their activities but only for the common areas.

Speaking on JoyNews, the President of the Federation of Kumasi Traders, Nana Akwasi Prempeh, said many traders regret selling their wares at the market due to the persistent power outages.

“People are suffering.

A lot of the traders are even giving up on why they came to the market to rent shops because it was anticipated that the new Kejetia market would be a new facility, unlike the old central market.

So we thought that we were going to have everything smoothly [and] things were going to run perfectly.

“But unfortunately, when it comes to this electricity system in the market, it is causing a lot of disturbances in the market because before we could say jack, every three to four months, ECG disconnects power,” he said.

Management at the market distributed the first batch of private power meters to the traders in March.

However, the traders insist on accessing more of the individual meters to resolve the power situation at the market.

According to Mr Prempeh, the nature of the business conducted in the market necessitates that each shop be equipped with its own meter.

“Because of the bulk meter and looking at the nature of the work we do there, give each shop a meter,” he said.