By Naa Shormei Odonkor, GNA
Kumasi, March 14, GNA – The management of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Ashanti West Region, has appealed to the Ghana Police Service (GPS) to help safeguard electricity installations in the region.
Mr George Amoah, the General Manager of the Ashanti West Regional ECG, said vandalism and theft of electricity installations like transformers, poles and meters, were on the rise in the region.
He made the call during a visit to the Ashanti Regional Command of the GPS by a team of ECG workers from the Ashanti West Region.
The purpose of the visit was to strengthen the relationship between the two institutions as well as strategise measures to protect ECG installations to keep the power on.
Mr Amoah indicated that the protection of electricity installations in the region was critical to prevention of revenue losses by the ECG, especially through unserved energy due to unplanned power outages.
He lamented how the vandalism and theft of electricity installations in the region was becoming rampant, citing 10 different instances in recent times.
According to him, some of the perpetrators intentionally stole or vandalised the electricity installations while others unintentionally drove into electricity poles.
These activities, he said, resulted in unplanned power outages, which negatively affected both domestic and economic activities and sometimes caused fire outbreaks.
“Recently, many poles have been destroyed at Nwamase, Buoho, Daban and a transformer at Drobonso by drivers which caused unplanned power outages in the areas,” he said.
Mr Amoah said expressed grave concern about how some individuals imported fake meters from neighbouring countries to install within the ECG network in the region.
He stressed that it was illegal for such meters which are not recognised by the ECG to be used by any citizen.
As part of the strategies to clamp down on these illegalities in the region, Mr Amoah said the ECG would intensify its monitoring activities this year.
Citizens who were connected illegally to the ECG network would be finished out during the monitoring process and dealt with according to the law, he emphasised.
The Regional manager, therefore, appealed to the GPS to join the ECG during the monitoring process to protect the ECG monitoring team and apprehend perpetrators.
Additionally, he appealed to the GPS to arrest individuals without ECG staff identifications found loitering around ECG installations to prevent vandalism and theft of its components.
Mr Amoah applauded the GPS for their support in assisting the ECG to provide constant power supply to customers to ensure security, especially at night.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Arthur Osei-Akoto, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, said ECG was one of Ghana’s strategic institutions playing key role in national development.
He noted that electricity was a critical security concern because it underpins virtually every aspect of society, adding that supporting ECG to maintain a stable power supply would help reduce potential security threats.
The Regional Commander emphasised the need to protect all electrical installations to ensure that citizens enjoyed stable power supply to foster socio-economic activities in the region.
He assured that the GPS in the region will protect all electricity installations and apprehend individuals or groups involved in illegal activities to ensure that the ECG kept the lights on.
DCOP Osei-Akoto said the ECG could count on the GPS to always provide security for them during their monitoring or other activities to enhance service delivery.
GNA
Edited by Yussif Ibrahim/Kenneth Odeng Adade