By James Amoh Junior, GNA
Accra, Sept. 4, GNA – The Ghana Grid Company LTD. (GRIDCo) has intensified a nationwide campaign to remove unauthorised structures and activities from electricity transmission corridors, warning that encroachment could endanger lives and disrupt the country’s power supply.
The exercise is being undertaken along transmission corridors across the country, with teams visiting areas in the Greater Accra Region, including Ebony, Pig Farm in Ayawaso Central, where homes, shops, stalls and other structures have been identified within protected areas around high-voltage transmission lines.
The nationwide exercise follows growing concerns over human activities within the Right-of-Way (RoW) of transmission lines, which GRIDCo says could restrict access to critical infrastructure and create serious safety risks for residents and businesses operating in the areas.
The Right-of-Way Campaign, underway in the Greater Accra Region, will be replicated in Ashanti, Western North, Western Region and Bono Regions.
Under the Transmission Line Protection Regulations, 1967 (L.I. 542), as amended by Regulation No. L.I. 1737 of 2004, it is an offence for individuals or institutions to undertake activities or erect structures within protected areas around electricity transmission lines and towers.
The regulations prohibit activities including drilling, excavation, lorry parks, shops, garages, barns and real estate development within a distance of 15 metres on either side of the centre of 161-kilovolt (kV) transmission lines and 20 metres for 330kV lines.
However, a number of homes, shops, stalls, temporary structures and other developments have been constructed within the protected corridors in several parts of the country.
The encroachment, according to GRIDCo, posed significant risks because the corridors provide the necessary safety clearance around high-voltage infrastructure and allow technical teams to access transmission lines and towers for inspection, maintenance and emergency repairs.
Activities such as welding, excavation, drilling and the parking of heavy-duty vehicles close to transmission infrastructure could also interfere with the safe operation of the network and, in the event of an incident, make emergency response more difficult.
In the Greater Accra Region, the 161kV H2AC transmission line, which runs from Achimota through Accra Central to Malam, is among the transmission lines affected by encroachment.
Concrete pillars installed to demarcate the protected corridors have, in some areas, been removed or damaged, while structures have also been erected within the demarcated spaces.
For 330kV transmission lines, the prescribed setback is 20 metres on either side of the transmission corridor, with the larger tower bases requiring wider protected areas.
Mr Samuel Kow Acquah, Director of Corporate Strategy, led a team to visit some of the affected areas to engage residents and businesses and educate them on the dangers of occupying or undertaking activities within transmission corridors.
Mr Acquah said increasing human activities around transmission infrastructure had the potential to disrupt power supply and pose serious risks to human life.
He said the campaign was intended to educate encroachers, squatters and other persons who had illegally occupied the company’s Right-of-Way about the dangers associated with such activities.
Mr Acquah cited a recent incident at Ashaiman, where a tanker being welded shattered and damaged portions of a transmission tower, resulting in an interruption of power supply for several hours.
“We are using this opportunity to educate all encroachers, squatters and people who have illegally occupied our Right-of-Way about the perils in doing this, one to human life and also the potential destruction to power supply,” he said.
He said GRIDCo was doing everything technically possible to eliminate bottlenecks within the transmission network and did not want human activities within the corridors to undermine those efforts.
The campaign, he said, would be sustained throughout the month and extended to all regions of the country, particularly areas where encroachment and other activities were threatening transmission infrastructure.
GRIDCo has given occupants and businesses operating within the transmission corridors a period to vacate and is continuing public education before enforcement action.
Mr Acquah said although markings had been placed on some properties, the exercise was not an immediate demolition operation.
He said the Energy Minister had granted a two-week moratorium, which would elapse on September 12, but that affected persons would still be given reasonable notice to demobilise from the Right-of-Way before any demolition exercise.
He said residents would be allowed to voluntarily leave the corridors before further action was taken against those who remained after the notice period.
On compensation concerns, Mr Acquah said GRIDCo would return to validate claims made by affected residents, stressing that there would be a human approach to the exercise.
He said residents whose properties had been marked and who claimed they had not received compensation would have their claims assessed and validated before any further action was taken.
Mr Acquah said GRIDCo was collaborating with the Information Services Department and the media to extend the education campaign to other parts of the country where there were high levels of encroachment and, in some areas, illegal mining activities affecting transmission infrastructure.
Mohammed Ahmed, a resident, said residents acknowledged that some people had built close to the transmission lines and would have no objection if the Government was ready to relocate them.
He said continuous public education was key to changing attitudes and behaviours and ensuring that residents complied with the regulations governing the transmission corridors.
Humu Suraj, a shop owner, also underscored the need for sustained public awareness about the hazards associated with activities and structures close to the transmission lines to encourage residents to comply with the safety requirements.
GNA
Reporter: James Amoh Junior
Email: [email protected]
Edited by George-Ramsey Benamba
