The Ashanti Regional Strategic Business Unit of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has expressed worry about the activities of illegal miners, commonly known as galamsey, around the company’s installations.
It said aside disrupting power supplies to its clientele in the region, the activities of the illegal miners were also endangering the lives of the people in the communities.
According to the company, the illegal miners dug around the poles supplying electricity to communities in and around the mining areas, and in the process uprooted the poles.
He said all the poles and installations of the company carried live power, which could pose danger to the lives of the people in the communities.
Concern
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Ashanti Regional Communications Manager of ECG, Erasmus Kyere Baidoo, said the company was losing revenue and incurring costs in replacing such poles due to the activities of the illegal miners.
He, thus, appealed to opinion leaders in those mining communities and residents to help the company to stop the activities of the illegal miners by reporting those working in and around the company’s installations to the police.
He said it would be in the interest of the illegal miners themselves and residents to stay away from installations to safeguard their lives and those of fellow residents.
Experience
He said at Akrokerri in the Adansi North District, the activities of the illegal miners led to the destruction of one of the 11KV poles, which cut off power to nearby communities.
He said the conductors also got destroyed in the process and had to be replaced by the company.
Fortunately, he said, the technical team from Obuasi and Kumasi were called in to reposition the pole and replace the conductors to restore power to the affected communities.
He reiterated his call to security agencies, opinion leaders and the community members to keep watch and to protect the ECG installations from the activities of illegal miners.