Prepaid exemption good for our hospitals ON 30 JULY 2013.

Last month, we carried a news item from the Upper East Region that said health care in the region faced serious challenges as a result of the lack of electricity to run health facilities in the region. The situation came about as a result of the installation of prepaid meters at health facilities in the region. The exercise was in line with the ongoing exercise to migrate all government offices and departments from postpaid electricity meters to prepaid ones by the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo), a subsidiary of the Volta River Authority (VRA). That piece of news was not the best for any resident of the Upper East Region, as keeping hospital wards, theatres, intensive care units (ICUs), pharmacies, regional medical stores and vaccine cold rooms in the dark for lack of electricity means a collapse of the healthcare system. The Daily Graphic, therefore, finds the decision by the Cabinet to exempt all health and educational institutions from using prepaid meters heartwarming and a step in the right direction. As justified by Cabinet, these institutions are of strategic importance and so any decision that will jeopardise the attainment of their objectives will put the nation at risk. It is also good to know that staff bungalows and commercial facilities in the affected institutions are to be fitted with prepaid meters. We wish to add that the administrative offices of these institutions should also be given prepaid meters. The prepaid metering system being undertaken by both the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the VRA are meant to check wastage in the system and make public servants and all customers become more responsible in the use of power. The move is also intended to help the two energy companies maximise returns on the power they generate and distribute. We dare say that most of the wastage in the use of electricity is in our homes and offices where electronic gadgets which could have been switched off are left to run till the following morning. Air-conditioners, computers, bulbs and other electrical appliances are left on when they should have been switched off. We carried a report last week in which the government was said to have cleared all its indebtedness to the ECG. The huge amount of money could have been invested in other sectors of the economy if there had been responsible use of the power supplied to ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). The Daily Graphic, therefore, urges the ECG and the VRA to quickly undertake the audit, as directed by Cabinet, on the level of compliance and installation of prepaid meters in bungalows and commercial facilities. We are particularly interested in the installation of prepaid meters in staff bungalows because some government officials have, for a long time, turned their bungalows into commercial centres, using the power supplied to them free of charge to operate commercial entities at the expense of the state. We believe that if these bungalows are fitted with prepaid meters, the wanton abuse of power in the bungalows will stop. Be that as it may, the Daily Graphic thinks Cabinet decision to exempt educational and health institutions and security agencies from the prepaid metering exercise will reduce the constraints on those organisations. http://graphic.com.gh/Editorial/prepaid-exemption-good-for-our-hospitals.html