Tilted And Falling High-Tension Poles On The Sogakope –Adidome

Hon. Archibald Letsa, Volta Regional Minister

Introduction

Dear Honourable Volta Regional Minister, I salute you with respect and I wish to draw your attention to a looming danger on the Sogakope-Adidome stretch of the Sogakope-Ho Highway. This will enable you intervene swiftly to avert the imminent danger. From afar, I have observed your hard work with much admiration and until otherwise proven, I have concluded that you are one of the hard working Regional Ministers in the Nana Addo Administration. Much as I encourage you to keep up the good work in the Volta Region, I equally envisage that you will act quickly on the problem I am bringing to your attention in this open letter once the letter gets to you.

Should you address the looming danger expeditiously, I will appreciate it because doing so will save both human and animal lives. Please take note that the essence of this open letter is not to cast a slur on your responsiveness to problems in the Region but just to draw your speedy attention to a looming danger. What then is this looming danger?

Tilted and Falling High Tension Poles On the Sogakope – Adidome Road

Honourable Letsa, I have been a regular user of the Sogakope-Ho Road for years and the stretch I ply most is the Sogakope-Adidome Road since Mafi-Kumase is tantamount to my hometown because I am a product of Mafi-Kumase Secondary Technical School (MAKSTECH).

For some time now, Efo Letsa, I have observed that some high-tension poles (high-voltage-above ground power lines) are tilted extremely and almost falling off on the Sogakope-Ho Road but nothing is being done to further affirm these poles in the ground. You would agree with me that the high-tension power lines carry high voltages of electrical power or current hence any direct human or animal contact is a recipe for disaster. Such a disaster will not only lead to loss of lives but also affect power supply from the national electric grid, with its nose-diving cascading effects on economic activities in some parts of the Volta Region which you superintend over. In view of the fact that you are the principal manager of the Volta Regional local economy, I think you should be concerned about the looming danger.

The tilted and falling high-tension poles I refer to are specifically found at the outskirts of Dendo, one of the settlements in the South Tongu District while another one is at Adidome, the Central Tongu District Capital. The one at Adidome is just some few meters on the right side from the Adidome Farm Institute towards Sogakope.

Honourable Letsa, I am convinced with a fair margin of certainty that your two DCEs of South Tongu (Hon. Emmanuel Louis Agamah) and Central Tongu (Hon.Thomas Moore Zonyrah) are users of this same road and they might have noticed this looming danger but they have not yet intervened to address the situation. I am equally sure that each of these two districts have ECG Officers or electrical engineers. Besides, the Central Tongu District has a sub-power hub or station at Mafi-Asiekpe so I do not think whatsoever that the two DCEs are deprived of the required experts to address this problem I have brought to your attention in this open letter. Even if they do not have such experts intra-district (which I doubt though), they could have sought for external support.

Another aspect of the problem, Efo Letsa, is that, some community members set fire to the bushes thereby burning the base of the wooden electric poles and I should think that the poles tilt whenever the stays are burnt beneath them.

Implications Of The Tilted And Falling High-Tension Poles

Honourable Letsa, though the implications of this looming danger are obvious, I want to tie a bow or two on few of them. The tilted and almost falling high-tension poles can lead to human and animal electrocution because both humans and animals (cattle) use the stretch. It can also lead to electrical fire due to the very high voltages of power running through the lines. Regional Minister, what makes the situation more alarming is that the Dendo area is an accident-prone zone and your imaginative ramifications of the low-lying high-tension lines can be as good as mine.

Also, the occurrence of any such danger resulting from the falling high-tension poles will necessitate your visit to the place to assess the situation with the accompanying formation of investigation committees as it is usually done in Ghana. Under such a circumstance, the media will also badmouth you for doing nothing to resolve the problem at its Genesis stages. My letter to you is to prevent all that should you intervene proactively by getting your two DCEs and the electrical engineers to resolve the problem. A stich in time saves nine and in the presence of an adult, a pregnant goat should not be left to give birth to its young one while tethered to a tree.

Specific Recommendations

Honourable Regional Minister, I suggest you sensitize your DCEs in the region to be extra observant in their districts and be responsive to problems they notice so that proactive solutions are proffered to avert any calamitous consequences.

Regarding the setting of fire to the wooden electric poles by the community members, there should be sensitization on that and the chiefs as well as the various Assemblymen should be involved. Perhaps the communities that set fire to the wooden poles should be made to endure some power cuts for days as a punitive measure to compel them to be more responsible. Also, your office can work in unison with ECG to protect the base of such poles with fireproof materials.

The electric poles are expensive and they are fixed in the ground to serve a purpose hence such careless fire setting behaviour of the community members must be stopped. It is surprising that the same people who get power supply from the national grid are setting fire to the poles that carry the power lines. How can a reasonable person cuts off the hand that feeds him? Nevertheless, the DCEs should be more attentive and proactive in identifying and resolving some of these problems.

Conclusion

Efo Letsa, thank you for reading my letter and I hope eagerly that you will not hesitate to intervene swiftly to avert the looming danger on the Sogakope –Adidome road.

~ Asante Sana ~

Author: Philip Afeti Korto.

Email: [email protected]