The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has advised Ghanaians, especially rural residents to desist from setting fire to bushes during the dry season.
According to the power distribution company, the incidents of bushfires are affecting the stable power supply, and increasing the cost of maintenance.
Speaking to the media in Ho, the General Manager of ECG in the Volta/Oti Regions, Christina Jatoe- Kaleo explained the unfortunate incident also hampers the effective execution of extension projects in underserved areas.
She further indicated that when the poles are burnt, businesses are affected as power goes off, leading to the loss of productive hours and revenue.
She disclosed that ten electricity poles were burnt between December 2023 and 10th January 2024 in her jurisdiction, which would cost her outfit about GH₵ 70,000 to replace the affected poles.
“Some of the communities that do not have power, or they have but people have extended to new sites and they are requesting for us to extend services to them. These poles that should have been used to extend services to them have to be used to replace what have been destroyed by the bushfires”, she lamented.
She, however, indicated that ECG employed some measures to mitigate the impact of bushfires by clearing trees along ECG transmission lines, creating fire belts around the poles, and applying fire-retardant paint while replacing wooden poles with metallic ones in fire-prone areas.
She encouraged community members to form watchdog communities to protect the installations of ECG and act as ambassadors to preach against bushfires.
She lauded the Fire Service, Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), and other institutions that have embarked on campaigns to curb the incidents of bush fire.
“Especially, our brothers and sisters who are farming, when you set fire to burn your bushes, please ensure that it is completely put off before you leave for your homes”, she advised.
She warned against people burning rubbish around ECG poles, and called for a collective effort towards curbing bushfires to protect ECG poles and urged the citizenry to contact his outfit through the call center in case of any fire emergency.
“Please let us come together and minimize the number of electricity poles that get burnt during every harmattan”, she called out.
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