Graphic enagages stakeholders over fire outbreaks
Participants at the maiden Daily Graphic Chief Executive Officers and Stakeholders’ Breakfast Forum have called for strict enforcement of fire safety regulations to curb the rampant outbreak of fires in parts of the country.
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According to them, the use of inferior electrical cables and gadgets, the engagement of the services of non-qualified electrical technicians and the failure of regulatory institutions to discharge their responsibilities effectively were contributory factors to the fire outbreaks.
The maiden Daily Graphic CEOs and Stakeholders’ Breakfast Forum, which was held in Accra yesterday, focused on fire management and control.
The forum is an initiative of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) to offer a platform for key stakeholders to discuss pertinent issues of national concern.
In recent times, there has been a trend of market fires that have razed property worth millions of Ghana cedis, shattered the livelihoods of thousands of Ghanaians and left the nation in a wild search for solutions.
Having reported extensively on the fire outbreaks, and as a leader in the Ghanaian media industry, the Daily Graphic decided to take the national discussion on the issue to a higher level by organising the forum to address the subject.
The law to deal with fire outbreaks
An official of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Alhaji Ishack Alhassan, who represented the sector minister, said the ministry was considering an amendment to the Local Government Law to help metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies deal more effectively with fire outbreaks.
He stressed the need for the proper management of markets, adding that adequate facilities should be put in place to fight fires.
He called for a multi-sectoral approach to deal with fire outbreaks because the solution was beyond the capacity of any single institution.
The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Nii Lantey Vanderpuye, said fire outbreaks undermined trade to a very large extent.
He attributed the recent fire outbreaks to the lack of effective control at the markets, pointing out that some of the markets had been turned into places of abode, brothels and entertainment spots.
Nii Vanderpuye, who is also the Member of Parliament for Odododiodoo, said his ministry had taken the issue of modernising the markets “with almost religious zeal”.
He said the short-term inconvenience caused to traders in the process of rebuilding the markets could not be compared to the losses they incurred during fire outbreaks.
Causes of fire outbreaks
The Chief Fire Officer, Brigadier-General J. B. E. Guyiri, described the forum as timely and expressed the hope that the participants would come up with workable solutions to address the fire outbreaks.
He outlined some causes of fire as overloading of electrical sockets, improper and careless usage of electric pipes, improper housekeeping, illegal connections and the use of inferior electrical materials.
Brigadier-General Guyiri said the GNFS faced a number of challenges, including competition with the public over access to water, indiscipline and blatant disregard of a section of the public for fire fighting vehicles and tampering with vital evidence at fire scenes.
He appealed to all stakeholders to help address the challenges and contribute towards the prevention and management of fires.
The Managing Director of Vanguard Assurance, Mr Gideon Amenyedor, said disasters could strike anytime and so it was important for people to prepare against disasters by taking insurance policies.
Impact of fire outbreaks
An energy consultant, Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby, expressed concern over user abuse of and lack of law enforcement on fire safety.
He said there was the need to avoid poor quality electrical gadgets and called for a ban on sub-standard electrical gadgets.
The Managing Director of the GCGL, Mr Ken Ashigbey, who chaired the forum, said the fire outbreaks were more of incidents than accidents.
He said the Daily Graphic would hold public officials accountable to their responsibilities.
The Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Ransford Tetteh, took the participants through some of the paper’s reportage on the fire outbreaks that had hit the country.
The stories highlighted the full impact of the outbreaks regarding the devastation caused to property, livelihoods, agony of victims, the challenges firefighters encountered and the commiseration of the government with the victims.
Story: Kofi Yeboah / Daily Graphic / Ghana
Writer’s Email: [email protected]