Central Medical Stores fire is national catastrophe : President Mahama
Touring the burnt Central Medical Stores in Tema yesterday, President John Dramani Mahama stopped momentarily, stared, shook his head in disbelief and said, "This is a national catastrophe," for which someone must answer to.
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He said if investigations being carried out by the National Security and the Ghana National Fire Service ( GNFS) revealed arson, the perpetrators would be dealt with by law.
Last Tuesday morning, the Central Medical Stores situated in the Tema Industrial Area was gutted by fire destroying everything in it.
"And if it was an accident, we have to ask what was the fire preparedness of the facility," he added.
The vast building was the medical warehouse for the Ghana Health Service; in it was stored medicines and medical equipment for distribution to health facilities across the country.
Efforts by firefighters to quench the blaze failed and the building was finally razed to the ground.
Destruction too huge
"The destruction is too huge to contemplate. Everything, even medical supplies from donors are burnt," the President said.
A swathe of debris was scattered across the space left behind by the inferno.
Trucks were still carting the debris away while fire personnel were working to douse the small fires inside the devastated building.
The Minister of Health, Dr Kwaku Agyemang-Mensah, had used about 15 minutes taking the President round and giving him some briefing, outside the hearing of journalists.
President Mahama said at a period of time when the nation was faced with economic challenges, it was untenable to lose medical supplies valued at over GH¢300 million to fire.
"We can't allow this to continue," he said.
As a measure to check recurrence, the President directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to liaise with the GNFS to have their premises protected against fires.