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From David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi
The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) Plc has warned hunters, farmers, cigarette smokers and others against indiscriminate bush burning as the harmattan sets in.
The harmattan season is characterized by dryness of leaves and every object or material, including human, which makes it very easy for fire to spread at every given opportunity.
Making the appeal in a release made available to journalists, the Head, Corporate Communications, EEDC, Mr Emeka Ezeh, said the appeal was timely owing to the fact that fire outbreak remained the most common risk during harmattan.
Ezeh recounted the losses the company had incurred in the past as a result of uncontrolled and indiscriminate burning of bushes and refuse dumps and prayed that such experience would never repeat this season.
“Our network spans through, bushes, forests, neighbourhoods, farmlands etc, and any form of burning, if uncontrolled could lead to a fire outbreak which may damage transformers, feeder pillar units, and the lines with their associated accessories, in addition to loss of lives, loss of electricity supply and other properties.
“Over the years, it has become traditional that bushes are burnt during the harmattan season for various reasons which mostly include helping hunters to drive bush animals out of their hiding places for easy catch while some might be to enable farmers prepare such lands for the next farming season, to mention but a few.
“Whatever may be the reason behind bush burning, it is advised that such fires are controlled so they do not escalate to unintended locations.
“For those who burn domestic waste dumps within the neighbourhoods, caution must also be applied equally so that it does not lead to unprecedented consequences.
“We are also calling on neighbourhoods that dump refuse under our network or near our distribution substations (transformers) to desist from such practice.
“We have had incidences where there were arcing from the cables and it led to fire outbreak on such refuse dumps which in turn destroyed our installations.
“We appeal to cigarette smokers and all those involved in the use of fireworks by this period to apply caution and dispose properly, and or strike and discharge appropriately to avoid fires escalating from them, ” he said.
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