Story By: Joseph Nana Yaw Cobbina
The Ghana Electrical Contractors Association has taken notice of the influx of fake/substandard electrical products in the Ghanaian market.
According to them, this worrying situation has been confirmed by a recent publication in the dailies; “GSA identifies 6,000 fake electrical products on sale”.
Speaking in an interview with the GECA President, Mr. Awal Sakib Mohammed, said an electrical system consists of several components: cables, switches, socket outlets, fuse/circuit breakers, luminaires, appliances, etc.
According to him, not even a single substandard electrical product in any electrical system is a HAZARD that can cause premises to be razed by fire, cause life-threatening injuries, and even electrocution.
“Identifying a good electrical product is daunting. Therefore, the Ghana Electrical Contractors Association wishes to caution electrical practitioners and the general public to beware. We encourage all to buy their electrical materials from credible, tried, and tested dealers as they are likely to offer quality and value for money” he reiterated.
He was poised that this is an opportunity to encourage the Ghana Standards Authority and the Energy Commission to speed up the Law on electrical accessories.
“We are confident that, when the law comes into force, it would help weed out unscrupulous dealers from the Ghanaian market. As we await the passage of the proposed Law, we encourage certified electrical wiring inspectors to enforce the use of materials approved by the GSA” he lamented.
Mr. Awal Sakib Mohammed was optimistic about dealing in substandard electrical materials is akin to and even worse than dealing in illicit substances, as it has the likelihood of robbing people of their hard-earned investments, health, and even loved ones.
He noted that the canker is a wake-up call for the national security agency to act fast and arrest the perpetrators without fear or favor.
The GECA members as an association only deal with standard electrical products and not substandard ones.
He advised Ghanaians to take note of how to recharge the wiring system every ten years to avoid fire outbreaks.
According to him, most fire outbreaks are caused by old electrical systems in place and if care is not taken for years to come Ghana will experience a lot of fire outbreaks.
The influx of inferior electrical products will complement the fire outbreaks and there is a need to treat it as national security issues.
He observed that those wires cannot absorb the weight of hydropower for longer periods so they get spoilt and needs urgent replacement.
The GECA urged Ghanaians to deal with experts in the industry for the proper wiring of their homes, offices, and schools to avoid substandard products.
Source: www.thenewindependentonline.com
