Ho, June 15, GNA – The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in the Volta Region has pledged support for the Green Ghana Project and promised to replace trees it destroyed to save power transmission installations.
Mr Emmanuel Lumor, General Manager of ECG Volta, has said the Company would plant four trees to make up for everyone it destroyed, to contribute towards efforts at saving the nation’s climate.
He gave the assurance at a ceremony at the ECG Regional Office in Ho during which he planted a tree to launch a nationwide tree planting exercise for the Company in the Volta and Oti Regions.
Mr Lumor said the ECG is a socially responsible organization with keen interest in safeguarding the environment, and commended the Government for the novel initiative.
Highlighting the benefits of the exercise, he said, “Trees are important to the livelihoods of human beings as they help to produce oxygen for human respiration, reduce the impact of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases, provide shade, beautify our surroundings and provide medicinal remedies for ailments’.
Mr Lumor stressed on the company’s commitment to the environment, adding that it would ensure that its activities did not impede the exercise.
“If any tree is lost in both Volta and Oti Regions as a result of our activities, the company will plant four trees in place of any tree lost to ECG related activities”, he added.
The General Manager advised against seeking shelter under trees close to overhead power distribution lines during rainfalls as it could endanger lives.
“Seeking shelter under trees closer to our network during heavy rainfall can lead to the loss of lives in the event of the tree falling on the cable or causing the cable to fall on the ground. This can lead to electrocution since the cable will be closer to the person seeking shelter under the tree”, he said.
Mr Lumor also cautioned to desist from planting trees directly under overhead cables, saying “the tree is a conductor of electricity so in the event of lightning, it can endanger lives and also cause outages since the protection on the ECG network will go off once the tree touches the network to save lives”.
The ECG planted close to 6,000 trees in all the eleven districts in Volta and Oti Regions as part of the Green Ghana Project, a Government initiative being implemented by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to ensure various agencies, schools, churches among others plant five Million Trees on 11th July, 2021.
GNA