Regional News of Friday, 17 July 2015

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

ECG electric pole poses danger to residents

The electric pole in deplorable state The electric pole in deplorable state

Some residents of New-Fadama in Accra have raised alarm about an electric pole, which they say, has become a death-trap and needed to be replaced as soon as possible.

The electric pole, which is located on a highly patronized route that branches off to the left from the Abeka-New Fadama road, just about 60 meters from the house of the Assembly woman is in a very terrible state.

A visit to the area by this reporter revealed that the soil supporting the pole at the base has eroded to the extent that the pole is currently supported by cables of nearby poles.

According to some residents, attempts to get officials of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and other relevant state institutions to fix it, have not yielded any results.

A resident who gave his name as Rev. Stephen Owusu Otoo, in an interview, warns of an impending calamity, akin to the June 3 explosion at the GOIL fuel station in Nkrumah Circle, which killed over 150 people, if the situation is not addressed.

“I am very disturbed by the state of the pole because, heavy rains coupled with strong winds can pull down the pole … and when this happens, the entire Abotre to New Fadama area will be plunged in dankness.

“What scares me is that, the moment the cables come in contact with one another, it will cause a fire outbreak and only God knows what will happen,” he warned.

Another resident, Opanin Michael Dankwa, who complained about the bad maintenance culture in the country added, “This pole poses a threat to the entire community so I have personally made trips to ECG to have them fixed it but, it is getting to a month now yet nothing has been done about it… I therefore appeal to authorities to help us solve the situation to avoid any future eventualities.”