Telephone Mast Collapses On Residents

OPERATORS OF Glo Telecommunications Network have incurred the wrath of some residents of Nungua who are bent on beating and chasing out personnel from the area after the company�s telecom mast broke down and destroyed their property worth thousands of Ghana cedis. Their frustration is borne out of the fact that after living dangerously under the telecom mast until the poll collapsed causing damages to their assets, the network company is only offering them GH�400.00 as compensation. They said the amount is an insult following their narrow escape from death when the mast collapsed on their building. Narrating the incident to the DAILY HERITAGE, after resisting the network company from re-mounting the mast yesterday, Sly Odoom, a resident warned that until they sit with them and rectify the situation they will not allow them to re-mount the mast. �The reason we are resisting them is that, they did not use good material in mounting the mast, so after a slight wind, the mast just broke down. We were lucky because it was at midnight. It fell on the next house, it broke the light pole, tore the high tension wires destroying our property. �The most annoying thing is that after we drew their attention, they never passed by to do anything about it and how to resolve the issue, all of a sudden they appeared again to mount the mast. We stopped them, when we went, the most annoying thing is that they said they will compensate the whole of the area with GH�400.00., is it not an insult?� he asked rhetorically. According to him, they have reported the matter to the police with some of their broken materials, and are expecting the police to take action. �All that they did after we reported to them was to bring their officers to come and mount the pole, so we chased them out.� He said, �Because of the contract agreement they had with the woman, who gave them the place, we can only allow them to continue the process only when they have properly compensated us.� But, he was quick to assert that after the expiration of the contract they will not allow them to mount the mast again. The assembly member for the area, Robert Okoe Odiko in an interview told the paper that the lives of the people are his priority and therefore they will not allow them to erect the pole until the right thing is done. Though health experts have warned of its dangers on human health, the mast the paper can confirm is close to a chop bar in the area where many people visit daily. When the paper visited the scene, the pole had been half erected on top of an uncompleted chop bar, called Grace Chop Bar and information gathered by the paper indicated that the chop bar operator has a six-year contract with the telecommunications company. The owner, the paper understands, would be sued if he resists Glo from mounting the mast, hence, the confusion in the area. Efforts to get the Glo officers mounting the mast proved unsuccessful as at the time of going to press.