Angry youth from New Takoradi on Wednesday stormed the main yard of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and caused commotion over the disruption of power supply to the area, for five days.
They complained that a major cable suppling power to the area had been cut due to construction works on the Takoradi- Kojokrom rail line, causing much worry to the community but, the ECG had failed to repair the fault.
At about 8.15 a.m. when The Ghanaian Times arrived at the scene, the youth, some carrying babies at their back and wielding pickaxes, sledge hammers, clubs hammers and other dangerous implements, were seen shouting on top of their voices, causing disturbances at the ECG yard.
Those holding pickaxes, even demonstrated as to how they would dig trenches on the roads until a detachment from the Rapid Deployment Force (RDF), led by DSP Godwin Koduah, arrived at about 9.05 a.m., to drive them away, restoring order and sanity.
Later, another reinforcement team from Takoradi, led by Superintendent Peter Donkor arrived at the scene to help restore order.
“We cannot remain in darkness for five days; we have complained and you do nothing about our situation. Are we not Ghanaians? Oh ECG., why?” an angry youth was heard complaining.
Responding to their complaints in an interview with The Ghanaian Times, the Public Relations Officer of ECG in the Western Region, Mr. Philip Osei Bonsu, explained that, on Sunday, December 13, residents of the New Takoradi Community called the office and complained that their lights had been off, saying that the company identified the faults from underground cables which had been cut.
He said on Tuesday, a test van arrived from Accra to work on the mainlines in New Takoradi to locate the exact position of the faults and since then, the engineers had been working round the clock to restore power to the community.
Mr. Bonsu said due to the power cuts, the ECG could not rely on radio announcements and community announcement systems and therefore, sent their public address vans to the area to explain the problem to the people.
“By God’s grace, we have been able to identify the faults and we are working on them and hopefully today, we will repair the faults and they will have lights in their area,” he assured.
Mr. Bonsu condemned the action of the New Takoradi youth that threatened the safety and security of the staff, saying “that’s why we called in the police to restore order.”
He, however, applauded the New Takoradi community for complaining about the underground cables faults, which he said was caused by construction works along the rail line by Amandi contractors.
The Commander of RDF, DSP Godwin Koduah also condemned the action of the youth, stressing that they must respect institutions, law and order and due processes.
He believed that, the matter would have been solved through dialogue and not violence.
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