Some traders at the Kejetia Market in the Ashanti Region have begun closing their shops over high electricity costs.
Consumers of electricity will pay 29.96% more effective February 1, 2023.
This was announced by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) on Monday, January 16, 2023, despite admitting the present economic challenges.
However, the President of the Federation of Kumasi Traders, Nana Akwasi Prempeh, said the announced adjustment would deepen the woes of the traders.
“We are suffocating due to the rising cost of electricity bills that are being brought to the market. Previously, we were paying GhC 343,000, 350,000 and 380,000 a month. After the tariffs adjustments in September, it rose to GhC 400,00,0 and between October and November, it rose to GhC 920,000 in a single month. Meaning the traders are consuming more power in the market,” he said on Joy news.
He said some traders had been forced to close down their shops since they were not able to pay the huge electricity bills.
“This has resulted because we are using one meter in the market. All 7203 shops are hooked to one meter. Many people are closing down their shops because they cannot continue to pay the high cost of electricity bills.”
On several occasions, the traders clashed with the management of the Kejetia market over the decision to use one bulk meter for the over seven thousand (7000) shops in the market.
Traders have complained that they pay exorbitant electricity bills due to the failure of the management of the facility to provide separate meters for shops within the market.
It appears the situation is not likely to be resolved anytime soon as the leadership of the traders has blamed the management of the facility for the closure of their shops.
Meanwhile, the management of ECG has revealed that the facility owes over five million Ghana cedis in arrears.