By Michael Kofi Kenetey
The Eastern Regional General Manager of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Ing. Mrs. Sariel Adobea Etwire, has appealed to the public to help protect their installations by reporting suspicious characters loitering around their transformers and fidgeting with them to the police or ECG District offices.
Ing. Mrs. Etwire made the appeal in a release following a rise in transformer vandalization in the region, which is causing power outages in the region. She noted that so far, thieves have managed to steal essential parts of six transformers, mounted to serve customers in the Region.
Ing. Mrs. Etwire revealed that the company last year spent an amount of eight point four million Ghana cedis on transformer projects to help improve power supply in the Region. She added that a total of 95 projects have been undertaken, comprising the installation of 17 new transformers and replacement of 78 old transformers.
The Eastern Regional General Manager mentioned that in spite of efforts being made to invest huge capital into system improvement of the company, some thieves have managed to vandalise a 50 kilovolts-amps transformer situated around Oyoko Roundabout, two of their one hundred kilovolts-amps transformers located in Asesewa District, a 100 kilovolts-amps transformer at Suhum, a 200 kilovolts-amps transformer at Asafo in Tafo District serving a hospital, and a 200 kilovolts-amps transformer at Lartey Gas area in Koforidua.
Ing. Mrs. Etwire noted that in all cases, the thieves managed to bring down the live transformers, open their covers and take away the copper wires, plunging the affected areas into hours of power outages and darkness. She said the transformers, which were serving various customers, have been replaced and customers are enjoying power supply now, while the cases have been reported to the police for investigations.
The Eastern Regional General Manager of ECG has therefore urged the public, especially their cherished customers, to report all power outages to the company on time. She added that this will help prevent thieves from vandalising transformers in case they intentionally curtail power with the aim of stealing transformer parts.
She urged the public that if power goes off in their area, they should kindly take a step further to check whether it is the entire area or a local fault. If one confirms that it is localised, one must inform the ECG for prompt resolution. Ing. Mrs. Etwire said this can help minimise the incidence of transformer thefts, which can also help prevent thieves from carrying out their negative activities.