News

Bushfire destroys 29 ECG poles in Sogakope, Keta

Twenty-nine electricity poles belonging to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in Sogakope, South Tongu District, have been burnt by bushfires.

The poles were erected along the sea defence stretch of the Keta-Havedzi road in the Keta municipality.

Some of the poles have been left hanging at knee level, posing danger to lives, but there are however, no power interruptions in the area.

 Mr Godwin Gone, Keta District Manager of the ECG, said the bushfires started on December 30, 2019, through to January 1, 2020 and  it took the intervention of firefighters, to stop the fires.

 He said he was surprised at the occurrence because “there are no farmlands or thick bushes around Keta-Adzido and Kedzi-Vodza areas for people to burn bushes for hunting”.

 The District Manager appealed to residents in the Keta municipality to desist from indiscriminate setting of fire to bushes during the dry season, so as not to plunge the area into darkness.

 Mr Gone asked the people to be careful when setting fires during Harmattan, because they could lead to unforeseen or unintended disasters with far reaching consequences.

He said the company was taking steps to replace the burnt poles, to prevent uninterrupted power supply to the people.    

 Mr Benjamin Obeng Antwi, Public Relations Officer, ECG, Volta Region, said the incident had been reported to the police, and was hopeful the culprits would be arrested and prosecuted.

 He said ECG was creating fire belts around the poles and replacing some with steel tubular poles in the Volta and Oti Regions, to avoid such occurrences.

 Mr Antwi complained about, what he said was the increasing cases of cable theft in Keta, especially around the Nursing Training College, and called for support from the public to arrest and prosecute the offenders. -GNA

ECG poles/Samba 9-01-20

Show More
Back to top button