Galamsayers Destroying Our Power Lines – Gridco Boss
Galamsay operators have taken their nefarious activities to yet another level ; this time around,the destruction of power pylons and towers of Gridco. This was made known to the Press by the company’s Chief Executive Officer at a briefing at the Ministry of Information in Accra. Briefing the Newsmen, the CEO who looked visibly worried said that somewhere in the Western Region the Galamsey operators have dug deep under one of the towers making exposing it to danger for anyone passing there. He cautioned that if these operators are not quickly checked and stopped immediately, lives and properties would be at a risk. Mr Joseph Kofi Essienyi said as a result of the Galamsayers, his company has had to relocate some of their towers and pylons at a great cost and work. He told journalists that very soon a task force would be inaugurated to police these right of way areas with the support of the MMDAs to ward off encroachers. He intimated that his outfit has done a lot to drive away encroachers in the past but soon after they are gone, they regroup to do their own thing thus making it very difficult to tackle the problem. He stated that people must stay away from the lines by 15 to 20 meters from the pylons to avoid any mishap . He warned that this time round offenders would be severely punished with the laid down laws covering the right of way. He urged the media to educate the Ghanaian people to abstain from this unsafe and unhealthy behaviour to avoid danger and prosecution. Other challenges the company faces emanate from undergrowth in the forest areas where clearing is so expensive and laborious but had to be done at all costs. He also touched on the obsolete transmission lines, transformers, equipment and and others beckoning them . He hinted that his company is embarking on replacement of old equipment and transmission lines to ensure regular power supply especially Accra -Tema corridor and other parts of the country.
The COO explained that these projects involve huge capital expenditure and time to fix themso Ghanaians must exercise restraint whiles his company fixes the problem . He announced that one big booster station is being built in Kumasi to improve power supply . He said some of the outages are caused by rainstorm, thunder and obsolete lines that are being tackled and not anything deliberate . He vehemently disagreed that there is ‘Dumsor’ but accepted that there have been occassional power trips arising out of minor faults here and there. He indicated that the two big power booster Stations at Pokuase and Kasoa recently out-doored are the biggest in the country that would help stabilize power in Accra West and Accra North environments and similar ones are being planned for other parts of the country. He assured Ghanaians that his outfit would do everything to ensure regular power supply at all times.
He praised the U S Government for the MCA support that built the two booster stations. The CEO announced that the president in his recent visit to Germany has secured another mellanium challenge account for the country.
