The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has arrested a suspected cable thief at the Ichaban water treatment plant in the Western Region.

The suspect, 17-year-old Baba Salihu, according to a statement from GWCL was arrested at the station last Saturday, September 23, 2023.

“At about 10 a.m. on Saturday, a Senior Technical Assistant at the station, Solomon Kuwornu, doing some rounds, heard an unusual noise in the old laboratory and decided to find out what could be happening there.

H"e traced the noise to the laboratory ceiling, thinking it was reptiles that were creating the noise, only to find Salihu lying prostrate on the ceiling to avoid detection,” the statement read in parts.

The statement explained that Baba had already removed all the cables in the walls and was in the process of eliminating those on the ceiling when the noise caught the attention of Mr. Kuwornu.

He was subsequently arrested and sent to the Inchaban police station.

The Water Company said the Inchaban Water Treatment Plant had, since October 2022, been going through difficulties at the hands of cable thieves.

“Due to this cable theft, the station was unable to engage this special device during the dry season, causing the plant to nearly shut down in March 2023. In July 2023, the entire electric cables in the late Station Manager’s bungalow were stolen along with the 25mm service cables that draw power from the external pole to the house. All the electrical fittings in the bungalow have also been stolen,” the statement indicated.

GWCL said that recently, cables at the trainees’ quarters were equally removed by these miscreants, costing the company huge sums of money to replace them.