TMA TO RETRIEVE STOLEN STREET BULBS (PAGE 18, JULY 20, 2010)

THE Tema Metropolitan Assembly has instituted measures to retrieve a missing quantity of street-light bulbs supplied by the Ministry of Energy to support the Assembly to provide light in the metropolis.
As a result, a team of assembly members has been tasked to a count all street-light bulbs installed in their electoral areas and to submit reports to the assembly by the end of this month.
The Chairman of the Tema East Sub Metro , Mr Enoch Adjei Mensah, who is leading the Tema East task force, told the Daily Graphic in an exclusive interview that the complaint was made on the floor of the assembly by some members of the house.
Mr Adjei-Mensah made the comment when the issue resurfaced at an educational forum organised by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) at Tema Manhean to encourage eligible voters to come out and vote massively when the time comes.
At the forum, a participant complained that an individual in the community was claiming ownership of ten streetlights installed by the assembly at the U compound area of Tema Manhean and inscribed his name on them with the indication that he had supported the area with the provision of light and therefore appealed to the assembly to investigate the issue.
Mr Adjei–Mensah, who is also a Principal Officer at the Tema NCCE, explained that the Assembly had already taken steps to investigate how the bulbs were taken out in somebody’s name.
Mr Adjei-Mensah recounted that late last year, the Energy Ministry supplied a quantity of street-light bulbs to the Tema Metropolitan Assembly to install on ceremonial routes in the metropolis.
He said when the issue was brought to the notice of assembly members, they suggested that the bulbs were rather fixed in the communities which were dark.
This, Mr Mensah said, was accepted by the house and therefore, each of the 39 electoral areas was given ten bulbs, with poles, to be erected in their communities, in collaboration with the residents.
He gave the break down in the electoral areas as Tema East-17 , Tema West-12 and Kpone Katamanso-10 which totalled 39 bulbs in all.
Mr Adjei Mensah said the task force was scheduled to start work on Monday, July 20, 2010, to count all streetlights in the metropolis.
He noted that some people, through personal contributions, provided streetlights in their areas but said they were different from the ones supplied by the Ministry of Energy.
Mr Adjei–Mensah who was confirming the allegations made by the concerned citizen said the assembly had taken up the issue, and called on people who had any information about it to contact the Sub–Metro office at Tema Manhean.
The concerned participant who lived at U Compound area at Tema Manhean had explained at the forum that the suspicion arose because the ten poles and bulbs were conveyed and installed in the area by a team of engineers from the TMA.
He said residents witnessed the installation and therefore, were surprised that an individual had his name inscribed on them and was campaigning that he had supplied light in order to win their favour in the forthcoming elections.
Meanwhile, information available to the Daily Graphic indicates that the one alleged to have inscribed his name on the bulbs was aspiring to become an assembly member in the forthcoming district level election.