A telecommunication mast co-shared by two service providers collapsed on a high tension pole carrying 33,000 volts during a rainstorm at Mpintsim in the Sekondi Takoradi metropolis. As a result, more than 33 communities have been deprived of electricity. It has also thwarted the operations of businesses in the affected areas, stretching from Mpintsim to Manso and beyond. It is estimated that it will cost the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) thousands of dollars to restore service to the affected communities since all the high tension lines were extensively destroyed. The mast was built on a small hill in the middle of Mpintsim and it was surrounded by a cluster of schools and residential facilities. The collapsed mast landed just three metres away from a residential facility. When the Daily Graphic got to the scene, it was detected that the collapsed structure was very weak and rusty, as part of it could easily be bent with the bare hand without 'using much force'. Some engineers the Daily Graphic spoke to said the steel used in the construction of the mast was not of the right quality and urged telecommunication companies to study what the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) used for their transmission lines" Some residents of the area where the mast fell said it was a terrifying scene, noting that "if it had happened in the afternoon when the children were in school or if it had fallen in the direction of the school, it would have been a national disaster". Officials of the ECG were in the affected communities to inform them about the reasons for the blackout. The move, according to the Western Regional Public Relations Officer of the company, Mr Adjai Larbi, was to assure the affected communities that the ECG would do everything possible to ensure that power was restored to consumers. Source: Daily Graphic