Man grabbed for allegedly stealing fuse from electricity substation
Mohammed Issah, 18, is in the grips of the police for allegedly stealing fuse from a electricity substation at Tema Community 2, belonging to the Power Distribution Services (PDS) Ghana Limited.
The unemployed man was caught by some residents when he was removing fuse from the distribution pillar (in the substation)near Edzi Bookshop, and handed over to the police.
The suspect led police to a scrap yard near the West African Examination Counciloffice at Tema Community 5, where he claimed he had been selling the fuse and other scraps.
However the dealers there denied knowledge of Issah, and no fuse was found with the dealers when the police carried out a search in the yard.
Briefing the Ghanaian Times, the PDS Acting District Manager for Tema South, Mr Christopher Apawu, said the company had received reports of power outages, and when PDS officials visited electricity substations, they realised that fuses had been removed by unknown persons.
“There has been instances when the padlocks securing the substations have been broken, so in March this year, we lodged a complaint at the Community 2 Police Station,” he said.
Mr Apawu said for the past two weeks, the rate of theft of fuse had intensified as the PDS received daily reports about power outages in some communities.
He indicated that the Faults Team of PDS realised that fuses hand been removed at some substations, and said the suspect would be put appear before court after investigations were completed.
In electronics and electrical engineering, a fuse is an electrical safety device that operates to provide overcurrent protection of an electrical circuit. Its essential component is a metal wire or strip that melts when too much current flows through it, thereby interrupting the current
FROM GODFRED BLAY GIBBAH, TEMA