Thieves steal cables and bulbs during load shedding exercise

Asamankese, May 21, GNA - Thieves are taking advantage of the darkness resulting from the load shedding exercise to remove bulbs and electrical cables from the newly installed streetlights in the West Akim District.

The District Chief Executive, Mr Kwabena Sintim-Aboagye, said activities of the thieves had brought the recent street lighting project undertaken in some major towns of the district under threat. Addressing the district assembly at Asamankese, he said the criminal acts has brought all the work and huge cost involved in the entire project to naught.

He said statistics received from the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) indicated that over the past three years thieves had done a lot of damage to electrical installations and recently they stole 15 transformer fuses.

Mr Sintim-Aboagye stressed the urgent need for the formation of neighbourhood watch committees in the communities. "If we fail to do that, then all our electrical installations would be destroyed," he said and added that the assembly would support and equip the committees.

He said the rural electrification project in some parts of the district would take off in August and that materials such as electric poles were being sent to the beneficiary communities.