The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Ashanti West Region, has participated in the nationwide tree planting exercise which took place on 7th June 2024.

The exercise which is an initiative of the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources is to ensure various agencies, schools, churches among others plant trees to support government’s agenda of “Greening Ghana”.

In a short ceremony at the ECG District Office in Offinso, the General Manager of ECG Ashanti West Region, Mr. Maxwell Dapaah, planted a tree to launch the exercise for the company in Ashanti Region. The exercise will see ECG plant close to 600 trees at offices, primary substations, bulk supply points, warehouses, workshop and other facilities in the Ashanti Region.

Addressing the media, Mr. Maxwell Dapaah who lauded the Government for this initiative, indicated that ECG is a socially responsible organization that takes a keen interest in safeguarding our environment and highlighted the benefits of trees.

“Trees are very important to the livelihoods of human beings as they help to produce oxygen for human respiration, reduce the impact of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases, provide shade, beautify our surroundings and provide medicinal remedies for ailments’, he said.

Mr. Dapaah added that the company is committed to the environment and will ensure their activities do not impede this exercise.

Mr. Dapaah advised customers and the general public not to seek shelter under trees closer to the ECG overhead distribution lines during rainfall as it could endanger the lives of people.

“Seeking shelter under trees closer to our network during heavy rainfall can lead to the loss of lives in the event of the tree falling on the cable or causing the cable to fall on the ground. This can lead to electrocution since the cable will be closer to the person seeking shelter under the tree”, he said.

Mr. Dapaah cautioned customers to desist from planting trees directly under the overhead cables of the distribution company.

He added that “the tree is a conductor of electricity so in the event of lightning, it could endanger lives and also cause outages since the protection on the ECG network will go off once the tree touches the network to save lives”.

Mr. Dapaah advised the general public to desist from unlawful entry into the network of ECG and urged customers to report people who interfere with the ECG network to the police or the nearest ECG Office as part of efforts to help protect ECG installations like poles, transformers, meters and pylons.

He urged customers to desist from illegal connection and pay their bills promptly to enable ECG to serve them better through the completion of existing projects and initiation of new ones that will inure to their benefits.

Mr. Dapaah advised customers to take advantage of the newly introduced cashless system by the ECG to pay their bills before ECG Officials visit their premises.

“Customers who still wish to visit the ECG office to transact any business should load the money on their mobile money wallet before going to the office since ECG Office no longer accepts cash,” he added.