Kumasi, Oct 3, GNA Mr Kofi Afewu, Ashanti West Regional Director of Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), has expressed concern about the rampant stealing cases of the company's cables and wires in the Kumasi metropolis.

He said in July alone, about 2,600 metres of 16-millimetre square copper PVC service lines that supplied power to customers' premises were stolen.

Briefing newsmen in Kumasi on Monday, Mr Afewu said the replacement of the wires had cost the company more than 30 million cedis. He said fuses from 15 sub-station panels of the company in various suburbs had also been stolen.

The areas, he said, included sub-stations at Bantama Roundabout, Sofoline, Roman Girls, Krofofrom Traffic Light, Zongo near Alabar, Daniel Sawmill, Amankwatia opposite sports stadium, Moshie Zongo, Ridge, Regional Co-ordinating Council and Yenyawoso.

Mr Afewu said the thieves, believed to be people who have knowledge about electricity, entered the Distribution Pillars of transformers and remove the fuses which had inbuilt copper in them.

He said because of the theft, the ECG has lost revenue through replacement and appealed to members of the public to help in apprehending the perpetrators.

=93This act of national sabotage is disrupting power supply in the metropolis and its environs and also over-stretching the company's limited resources in ensuring stable power supply=94. He said ECG was doing all that it could to remedy the situation and hinted that one Richard Addai, 13, who was caught stealing, would face juvenile court on October 4.

He said another person, Ofori Atta, 25, had been jailed three years in hard labour for similar offence.