About 400 telephone lines belonging to Ghana Telecom customers in some parts of Kumasi and its environs have been disrupted since the beginning of this year due to the stealing of underground and overhead telephones cables. The copper component of the cables is said to be a vital material for the manufacture of trinkets and some electrical and electronic items. Ms. Patience Maamle Asare, Ghana Telecom’s Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer, named the worst affected areas as Ridge, Tafo-Nhyieaso, Pankrono, Buokrom, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology [KNUST] campus and Fumesua. She said that the cost of cables stolen from the KNUST campus alone is about ¢100 million and added that the other affected areas are being assessed. She described the rate of cable theft as very alarming saying that "not less than eight customer lines in Kumasi go off everyday because of cable theft." Ms. Asare said Obuasi like Kumasi, records persistent cable theft on a daily basis. She appealed to the general public to provide the company and the security agencies with the necessary assistance in order to track down the culprits. Source: The Ghanaian Times