V/R ECG awards dedicated employees

Ho, Jan. 31, GNA - The Volta Region Directorate of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) on Friday honoured 14 of its employees as part of the Management's new initiative to recognise hard-work, dedication, loyalty and promotion of higher productivity among its staff nationwide. Each recipient received a certificate and undisclosed amounts of money. In an address read on his behalf, the Acting Managing Director of the Company, Mr Stephen Akuoko announced that "new and streamlined salary structures will be instituted early in the year", as part of motivational package for staff.

He called for a new and positive working culture of punctuality and diligence in which corporate resources are used strictly on corporate business.

Mr Akuoko warned against the practice of receiving money from customers supposedly on behalf of the Company and misapplying it as Management would not be lenient with those caught indulging in such practices. He said a number of projects have been initiated, including computerisation of the Finance, Materials, Transport and Administration Directorates and a Distribution Engineering and Geographic Information Systems (DEGIS) are being installed to improve service delivery and customer satisfaction.

A "SCADA" system is also to be introduced into the Tema and Accra networks to enhance system operation and reduce the incidence and duration of high voltage faults.

The Acting Managing Director however, expressed concern about the revenue output for the greater part of last year, which "was nothing to write home about except in December, which gave most of us the hope to believe that all is not lost yet."

Mr Akuoko reminded the staff that the Company should be able to pay the Volta River Authority in full for the units billed and have a fair surplus to be able to cover operations and improve Service Conditions. Mr A.T. Barfour, Director of Operations of the Company said the selection of next year's award winners would be determined by Performance Appraisal reports rather than by selection and consensus of staff as is the case this year.

In his welcoming address, Mr Felix Fiebor, the Volta Regional Director of the Company urged staff to regard the introduction of Best Worker Award scheme as a wake-up call for improved performance from Management.