By Naa Shormei Odonkor
Kumasi March 24, GNA – The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has denied that it was responsible for the fire outbreak that destroyed the entire ‘Blue Light’, a popular shopping enclave at Adum, the central business district of Kumasi.
Mr George Amoah, the Ashanti West Regional Manager of the company told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that, the allegations were unfounded and there was the need for the traders and the public to wait for the outcome of the investigations, which is being conducted by the Ghana National Fire Service.
The affected traders and some members of the public are blaming the ECG for the continuous power fluctuations in the area, which eventually ignited the most horrific fire disaster in recent history of Kumasi.
The entire shopping enclave between the Hello FM radio station and the Kumasi central market was razed by the devastating fire, destroying merchandized items running into millions of Ghana cedis and leaving hundreds of traders trapped in huge loses and debts.
The cause of the fire outbreak is not yet known but the traders are pointing accusing fingers at the ECG for the persistent power outages, which engulfed Kumasi and its surrounding communities within that period.
The Ashanti Regional Security Council had already ordered the GNFS to conduct a thorough investigation into the disaster, while President John Dramani Mahama, had ordered the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) to organize relief items and support for the hundreds of victims.
Mr Amoah noted that, before the fire outbreak on Friday morning, power supply to the area was stable on Thursday and the early hours of that fateful day.
“However, the company had to curtail power supply to the enclave when the fire started to enable the Ghana National Fire Service do its work and also protect life and property,” he said.
According to Mr Amoah, the ‘Blue Light’ enclave had not recorded any power outage for about three weeks until the fire outbreak.
He said the ECG had a dedicated power distribution line called the ‘Town Hall Tower,’ which ensured a reliable power supply, since the enclave was one of the revenue hubs for the ECG.
“The distributive feeder that serves the enclave is one of the healthiest feeders in the Ashanti West Region and for the past three weeks we’ve not experienced any outage in that enclave,” Mr Amoah stated.
Additionally, he noted that, there was an alternative source of power supply known as the ‘Power House Two,’ which went through the same enclave.
He pointed out that the distribution of quality and reliable power supply in that enclave was one of the topmost priorities of the ECG.
He, however, expressed concerns about the frequent vandalism of transformers and theft of electricity supply items, which ended up causing power outages in the market centre.
Mr Amoah recalled two incidents of transformer vandalism and theft of electricity supply items, one of which occurred near the old Melcom area, resulting in a 48-hour power outage.
The second incident occurred about two weeks ago near the Hello FM station, where the fire outbreak was experienced with items such as switches, fuses and others stolen, by unknown persons.
Power was, however, restored the same day as the stolen items were immediately replaced and the transformer was restored.
Again, he observed that the building on which the fire started was quite old, densely populated and had a lot of interconnections with wrong cable sizes.
“The wiring of the building is old, and a lot of people distribute power to their neighbors illegally with substandard electrical cables.
Some of the stores do not have an earthing system, while others had old sockets which posed a serious risk to their safety,” Mr Amoah explained.
He said ECG had on several occasions visited the enclave to engage the traders on the need employ the services of certified electrical wiring professionals to undertake the wiring of their shops.
Mr Amoah said the ECG empathized with victims of the devastating fire outbreak as the ECG equally lost a transformer, about five poles and some cables.
GNA
KOM/AD