Imagine yourself relaxing at home with your family on a hot summer afternoon. All is cool and comfortable until suddenly, there is no power. The electricity has been cut off and everyone scurries in search of fresh air or a slight breeze. Your blood will boil if you discover that the inconvenience was caused by the power company which cut off your electricity because you have not paid your bill.
Turning off the power in homes without warning the residents in advance is common electric company practice. Not only that, company officials are not concerned if damage results from cut-off; there are cases of course in which the absence of electricity can be fatal.
Suppose the head of the household has no money to pay the bill. Does this mean the family must live without electricity for an unspecified number of days? Suppose the head of the household is out of town, should his family live without electricity until he returns. Suppose the company cuts off the power in the morning when both father and mother are at work, what will happen to those left in the house? Suppose the power goes out when someone is using the elevator, must he or she wait until someone goes to the company, pays the bill and asks that power be restored so that the person in the elevator can come out. As you can see, there are endless possibilities and some could easily result in very serious consequences.
The power company may cut off electricity from shopping centers, big housing compounds, businesses and other places without a warning — but please spare people’s homes. In the end, you will get your money back, all of it. But please let’s have no more of this inhuman practice. There are many other ways to protect your rights. The government has all its departments linked to a central computer system. You can link to that system in order to ensure that those who fail to pay their electricity bill will not get their paperwork processed in government office.
The important thing is to work out a way of dealing with the problem other than cutting off electricity to homes.
