The Ghana Trade Fair Company (GTFC) needs more than 600 million cedis to replace worn out electrical cables serving the fair grounds.
The cables serve the various pavilions and have been in use for the last 38 years. "They have, therefore, lost resistance and risk causing a major fire outbreak if not changed before the International Fair slated for February 28 to March 11," Electrical Engineers working at the fair grounds told the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday.
Mr Enor Mensah, Managing Director of EM Control Limited, engineers at the fair grounds, said: "The cables, all underground, are so old and weak that if we do not replace them before the fair, they may blow up and cause damage to life and property."
He said usually such cables should be changed every 20 years. "But here we are 38 years on and nothing has been done." Mr Mensah said the cost of replacing the cables alone without civil engineering; pipes and other expenditure would be in the region of about 400 million cedis.
Ms Esther Ofori, Chief Executive of the GTFC described the situation as a "major breakdown that is being rectified to ensure that the fair takes off smoothly. "The whole Trade Fair grounds cannot be covered now. But we will cover the areas that would need high power base during the fair and the rest done later."
