Utility companies operating in the country, notably the telecommunication firms (telcos) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), have for many years dug up parts of the Accra Metropolis with the purpose of laying cables.
Utility companies operating in the country, notably the telecommunication firms (telcos) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), have for many years dug up parts of the Accra Metropolis with the purpose of laying cables.
In doing so, the companies have excavated the frontage of houses, shops and offices among many other places. Oftentimes, workmen cut through roads, whether tarred or untarred, to lay cables.
It is understandable that the service providers would want to dig the ground to lay cables. They do so in order to provide better services for their clients.
Unfortunately, the practice has become rather all too common and worrying, considering the huge trenches that they leave behind.
Many residents in the city, including shop owners and motorists, complain of the inconveniences created by the gaping holes in the ground which are left uncovered.
What is most appalling is that after digging up the places, they are never restored to their original state.
Acts such as these, place additional financial burden on residents who are forced to pay to put the grounds back in shape as the utility companies seem only to be looking forward to their profits in the medium- to-long term at the expense of the welfare of the people.
The roads in many places in the city have gone bad as a result of constant digging and also because of lack of funds or their misuse by those in authority. Pavements that were constructed as part of road projects are in a disorderly state all because of the recklessness of the utility service providers who put profit before the well-being of the state and the people.
Regrettably, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and the agencies in charge of roads only look on as the companies cause destruction to state property.
It remains difficult to comprehend why the AMA in this age, has not deemed it fit to open up a common duct through which utility companies could all pass their cables when they need to, for a fee, without creating disorder and damage to state property .
Charging utility companies rent for the use of common cable ducts so created could become a source of revenue for the assemblies.
In the days of the Acheampong regime, some of these ducts were dug and properly designed to serve as a common facility where all cables will be laid without creating the sort of nuisance the utility companies create now.
New technology
An alternative is for the utility companies to deploy the latest technology that allows digging to be done without disturbing the environment and causing inconvenience to residents, shopowners or companies.
In other jurisdictions around the world, utility companies are not allowed the free rein to mess up cities because it is expensive to bring them back to form. Apart from the ECG which is an indigenous company, all the other companies noted for digging are multinationals who will not be allowed to perpetuate such carefree acts for the reason of working to provide quality service for clients.
There are still excavation works ongoing in Accra. The fear is that, we may gradually be creating a situation where individuals could also dig up the environment anyhow under the pretext of improving utility services to their residences.
The AMA, Ghana Highway Authority, Department of Urban Road and the Department of Feeder Roads, have a collective responsibility to protect public property and must no longer remain distant while multinational companies flout laid-down rules and regulations.
