A team of Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), military, and police personnel have begun monitoring various power installations in the Yilo Krobo and Lower Manya Krobo Municipalities of the Eastern Region to ascertain their integrity.
81 out of 147 substations in both municipalities were assessed on Tuesday with work expected to continue in the coming days.
This includes monitoring transformers in the area and patrolling the lines to enable the Company to detect any problems for the necessary resolution.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the ECG, Tema Region, Miss Sakyiwaa Mensah detailing work done so far said, “81 transformers were assessed today (Tuesday). Work will continue, as in monitoring all transformers in the two municipalities as well as patrolling lines where necessary so all issues detected can be resolved.”
At Yilo Krobo, the equipment was assessed in areas such as Sra, Social Welfare, Akwenteymah, Sawer, Ogome, New Somanya, Abonse, Atua Down, Atua Top, and Lasi Market.
In Lower Manya Krobo, areas assessed included Agormanya Market, Osofo Nartey, Agbom Park, Ablosti Old Woman, and Block Factory.
According to the PRO, some of the equipment were damaged while others had some components stolen: “It is critical to note that most of the transformers had their earth cables cut off/stolen. Others also had their Low Voltage fuses, which are components of the transformers stolen.
“it was discovered that the disconnected transformers and cable ends have been connected back by persons who are not ECG staff and therefore had done these connections illegally.”
The assessment is expected to continue on Wednesday as plans remain underway to work on the affected equipment.
On when exactly works are expected to be completed on the equipment, Miss Sakyiwaa said, “ECG cannot, at the moment, determine how long all these repair works will take. Yet all the repair works must be done before the power supply can be restored. We hope to complete this soon enough.”
The monitoring exercise has become necessary following what the power distributors referred to as “tampering with its transformers, cables and other equipment” and the “interference of its network.”
The exercise forms part of the next phase of the deployment of prepaid meters to the two municipalities and restoration of power following the deployment of security personnel to carry out a prior assessment of the area.
The Eastern Regional Security Council last week deployed military personnel to the Krobo area to carry out an intelligence-led assessment ahead of the next phase of installation of pre-paid meters by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The security personnel were also to ensure the safety of ECG officers who will be deployed to fix the meters.
The area has been in darkness since July 27, after the ECG switched off feeders supplying electricity to the two municipalities over reports of illegal connections.
To ensure that the exercise succeeds, the PRO called for corporation from its customers and various stakeholders. She said, “We hope for a peaceful working environment to ensure we will be able to complete this exercise soon.”
