No debt waiver for Krobo residents – PDS clarifies

Power Distribution Company (PDS) has denied reports it has waived off about GHC100 million of billing charges from residents of Krobo and its environs.

The reports said the move was to enable the agitating residents pay off their accumulated bills which has become a matter of contention between them and the power distributor.

However in a statement, PDS said there have been no waiver of bills instead the new amount is the actual reflection of the actual electricity consumption of the people.

Background.

Angry youth of Kpongunor organized a spontaneous protest to petition the Municipal Chief Executive for the Area, Kwaku Simon Tetteh, on their concerns of over billing by PDS and its ongoing mass disconnection exercise.

The youth had earlier in the morning of the fateful day Wednesday May 22, 2019 mounted road blocks and pelted the PDS Staff with stones and sticks at Yohe, a community near Odumase Krobo when PDS staff went to the community to discontinue its mass disconnection exercise.

The irate youth smashed a PDS Nissan Pick Up with Registration Number GV 2318-1. It took the intervention of armed Police personnel to rescue the PDS staff.

The PDS staff decided to switch off the transformers cutting off power supply to many communities.

Shortly after the attack, the angry youth mobilized to embark on a protest to petition the MCE but the armed Police rushed to protect the Municipal Assembly Office by preventing the youth from entering the premises.

This led to clashes between the youth and the Police. Many warnings shots were fired to disperse the youth who were also attacking the Police with stones and other implements. The arrival of the reinforcement team from the Regional Police Headquarters saw brute force and indiscriminate dischargebof fire arms leading to the death of a 24 year old young man while seven persons including a final Year JHS student shot in the leg while returning from market.

Thirty-five(35) persons were arrested during the riot.

Source: Starrfm.com.gh