Mr Timothy Affrem, District Manager, Denu Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), has appealed to the public, especially assembly and unit committee members, to help arrest the stealing of ECG cables in the communities.
He said the illegal practice, apart from causing havoc on individuals and groups, also had negative implications not just for the company but also for customers.
Mr Affrem spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the back of an electrocution incident that occurred on Wednesday, April 13, leading to one death.
The deceased, a 32-year-old Eric Folikoe died around 1415hours on Wednesday, some hours after he was brought to the Ketu South Municipal Hospital to receive treatment for severe burns, which he sustained all over his body because of climbing a high-tension pole at Aflao.
The District Manager told the GNA that his outfit suspected that the deceased who was in the company of one other person now at large, tampered with the incomer (cable) that supplied the Aflao Bulk Supply Point leading to his electrocution and the early morning power outage experienced in Ketu South and other areas.
He said the cable or the copper wire used for the earth at their primary sub-station along the Aflao Diamond Cement Road was cut from the down and the middle and that the deceased had climbed the pole to get the rest when he got electrocuted.
“The information we got was that he fell from the high-tension pole with his clothes, which caught fire still on. He managed to immerse himself in the lagoon nearby, but he had already sustained severe burns.
We understand that prior to the arrival of the Police, the other person took the already cut copper and ran away.”
Mr Affrem said the power distributor was making efforts to improve on service delivery for customers and it was important everyone got involved to watch over the company’s property like cables and transformers to safeguard lives and ensure stable power supply in the communities.
“When the incident happened, it disrupted power supply to the entire Ketu South, Dzodze (Ketu North), Ave-Dzalele (Akatsi North), Anlo-Afiadenyigba and parts of Keta. During repair works to restore power, we had to replace the stolen copper with aluminium. We usually use copper because its conductivity is higher.”
He appealed to all the people to help watch over ECG networks, saying,
“They are expensive and the more they are tampered with, the more burden is created.
Report any suspicious activities around our local transformers. Even if the people claim to be coming from ECG, question them,” Mr Affrem said.
