The Energy Commission has said, it would continuously address major issues identified to be responsible for fires related to poor electricity connection.
The Commission indicated that it has implemented the Electrical Wiring Regulation LI 2008 which supervises how electrical wiring should be conducted, the materials used and who performs internal electrical wiring in Ghana.
Addressing the 9th batch of Certified Electrical Wiring Professionals (CEWPs) in Accra, the Executive Secretary of the Energy Commission, Dr. Ofosu Ahenkorah explained that the Commission has developed an application to detect fake cables in the market.
“The app, which will soon be rolled out, also has the list of all certified electricians, licensed by the Commission as well as dealers in genuine electrical cables. We are doing this in collaboration with the Ghana Standard Authority,” he said.
The initiative, Dr. Ahenkorah explained, is to wipe out inferior and non-certified electricians and products from the market, while ensuring quality delivery in the sector.
“One of the main training here is the refresher course, which we offer to the CEWPs to enable them to be abreast with current industry standards. There have been new colour codes which have different interpretation from the usual red, blue, yellow, green and black cables in the market,” he said.
The Director, Enforcement and Inspectorate at the Energy Commission, Mr. Tony Blebu, said a total of 5,221 persons who have been registered and certified nationwide, have been categorized into different levels in the electrical wiring industry, constituting: “Domestic 3,147, Commercial 1,719, Industrial 293 and Inspectors 89.”
Mr. Blebu said the Commission have only certified electricians who have proven that they are capable of conducting safe electrical wiring in Ghana, and are open to continuous improvement training.
“We wish to state that we have certified them based on their competencies and not attitudes,” he said.
Mr Bleboo said the Electrical Wiring Regulation demands that facility owners engage the services of only certified electricians and certified electrical materials for wiring installations.
He said the law also sought to protect life and property by ensuring that electricians avoided shoddy electrical wiring to avoid fire outbreaks.
He indicated that the Certified Electrical Wiring Professionals (CEWPs) would be identified with stamps with their codes and unique names on them, aside their certificates.
To ensure that the public adhered to the regulations, Mr Bleboo said the distribution utility companies such as the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) met the fundamental requirements of the law.
“It is in the utmost interest of the distribution utilities to only initiate service connection processes after a facility has been declared safe by a certified electrical wiring inspector,” he advised.
By Wisdom Jonny-Nuekpe
