The Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) and National Security are collaborating to remove all unauthorized occupants living under high-tension power lines across Ghana.
This move follows financial strains caused by repairs at Kwame Nkrumah Circle after a recent fire outbreak.
Despite existing laws to protect these areas from encroachment, enforcement has been challenging. GRIDCo’s Head of Corporate Affairs, Dzifa Bampoh, explained on Joy FM’s midday news that the nationwide exercise aims to clear all unauthorized individuals near the high-tension lines, ensuring the safety and integrity of the power infrastructure.
She added that “in fact nobody should be living under a transmission line, so this is not just about this ECOMOG area; there are slum communities at Fiesta Royale; there’s Adjiringanor, Ashiaman. I mean, it’s not just even in Accra; we have Kumasi; we have the Western Region.
“We have a lot of galamsey activities that impact even the structure of these towers and because we do have legislation that backs it, it makes it an offense for anyone, persons, or institutions to be on these lines.”
Mrs. Bampoh also noted the Greater Accra Regional Minister’s commitment to preventing unauthorized human settlements near GRIDCo facilities, which is reassuring.
Despite GRIDCo’s efforts to enforce these regulations, Mrs. Bampoh highlighted that the company has faced resistance from various quarters, making it challenging to fully implement the necessary measures.
“But it does not end with this settlement. GRIDCo needs significant support to execute a campaign that clears people from under the transmission lines”.
Mrs Bampoh explained that ‘right-of-way’ challenges are among the most difficult aspects of GRIDCo’s operations, given the company’s responsibility for some 6,700 kilometres of transmission lines across the country.
“These are very high kilovolts of transmission lines that, God forbid, if were to touch anyone, that person will turn to ashes.
“So, we will continue to do what we can,” she noted.