The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Ashanti West Region, has planted trees to boost vegetation in the Ashanti Region as part of efforts to restore trees lost to various activities in the Region.

The tree planting exercise forms part of activities geared towards making Kumasi the garden city of Ghana.

The exercise is also 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 Office in Adum, the General Manager of ECG Ashanti West Region, Mr George Amoah, planted a tree to launch the exercise for the company.

The exercise will see ECG plant trees at offices, primary substations, bulk supply points, warehouses, workshop and other facilities in the Ashanti Region.

Addressing the media, shortly afterwards, Mr Amoah who lauded the government for the initiative and indicated that ECG was a socially responsible organisation  with 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 Amoah added that the company is committed to the environment and will ensure their activities do not impede this exercise.

“These trees we are planting are a commitment we are making to society to ensure that generations after us will thank us for maintaining Kumasi as a garden city and keeping the world in great shape”, he said.

The Ashanti West General Manager further explained that “as a Company, our operations require that our network is free from vegetation or tree branches do not interfere with our lines so sometimes when we see such trees we trim the branches since these branches can cause outages when they interfere with our network”.

He 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 conductor (electricity line) or causing the conductor to fall on the ground. This can lead to electrocution since the conductor will be closer to the person seeking shelter under the tree”, he said.

Mr Amoah cautioned customers to desist from planting trees directly under the overhead lines 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 Amoah 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.

“Customers experiencing outages within their individual premises should kindly contact our  contact centre on 0302611611, report to the nearest ECG office, lodge a complaint on the ECG PowerApp or reach us on our social media handles @ECGghOfficial’’, he said.