Kites and electricity don't mix
- GPL
Stabroek News
April 3, 2004
The Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) is warning consumers to avoid flying kites close to electric wires, poles, overhead transformers or trees growing near to electrical equipment.
In a press release on Thursday, GPL expressed concern about the discovery by its line technicians of a number of kites hanging from the transmission line that brings 69,000 volts of power to Sophia from GPL's Garden of Eden stations.
Chief Operations Officer, Bharat Dindyal, is quoted in the GPL release as saying: "...[GPL] cannot over-emphasise how very deadly it is for anyone to come into contact with these high voltage lines that were deliberately constructed far away from housing areas."
The release also urged parents to ensure that children do not climb utility poles to retrieve kites or pull on kite strings if they become entangled with power lines.
Dindyal further noted that residents in North Ruimveldt and Sophia in Georgetown and Blairmont and Canefield in Berbice, have constructed houses and other structures directly under transmission lines exposing themselves and their families to extreme danger.