The Somanya District Hospital in the Yilo Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region, risks an electricity shutdown due to its unpaid debt of about GH?1.4 million owed to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The financial strain is taking a toll on the hospital’s operations and healthcare services provided to the people of the town and its nearby communities.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Ms Irina Ofei, the Director of the Ghana Health Service for the Yilo Krobo Municipality, said urgent action was needed to resolve the issue and secure the facility’s power supply.
She expressed shock at the power distribution company’s decision to disconnect the hospital, which provided essential services, from the national grid.
This comes after ECG served the hospital with a disconnection of power notice for failing to pay its accumulated bill?of one million Ghana cedis since May 2022.
She also expressed her disappointment over the situation and urged the power distribution company to show leniency whil
e the hospital’s management dealt with the matter.
‘The hospital will be marking its second anniversary in April 2024, and we can’t work without electricity. We are providing essential services to Ghana, so I will plead with the management of ECG to give us some time to pay the debt,’ she said.
Mrs Ofei said the hospital was unable to cover the nearly 1.4 million Ghana cedis debt now and pleaded with the government to come to their aid or to waive the bill, as it was impossible for the facility to raise such a huge amount within the time frame.
Ms Sekyiwaa Mensah, the Public Relations Officer for ECG in the Tema region, informed the Ghana News Agency that the hospital had not made any payments to the company since April 2022 and that the?hospital has an outstanding debt of GHC1,398,955.40 to the ECG company.
The notice of disconnection was served to the facility on Thursday, February 22, 2024, indicating that the hospital had a 14-day ultimatum to pay or have its facility disconnected from the national gr
id.
The ECG’s PRO said the notice formed part of the Company’s ongoing nationwide revenue mobilisation exercise.
Source: Ghana News Agency