How Ghana Water plans to stop Fire Service from selling water meant for firefighting
The Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) says it has begun metering all fire hydrants in a bid to prevent members of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) from selling water meant for firefighting.
According to the Chief Manager in charge of Communications of the GWCL, Mr Stanley Martey his outfit had to take this action because the officers of the GNFS had been recalcitrant despite several interventions.
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"We have told them (GNFS) several times that they must desist from this attitude to the extent that we had to meter the hydrants in their offices so that they would stop using that hydrant for such purposes," Mr Martey said in an interview on Joy FM. He added: "Why do we have to meter hydrants? It is because of such attitudes and this is not the first time".
Addressing a news conference yesterday in Accra, the Chief Manager of the GWCL in charge of Accra East Region, Engineer Emmanuel Johnson alleged that officers of the GNFS sell water from the fire hydrants to the general public.
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"It is public knowledge that the tenders meant for firefighting are being abused. Evidence abounds across the country on how some personnel from the Fire Service draw water from the hydrants and sell to the general public”, he stated.
He added, “GWCL as a company cannot be dragged into the Makola market fire brouhaha because there are enough water hydrants at the central business district. So they must accept responsibility for failing to quench the Makola Fire.”
Reaction
The reaction from the GWCL comes after the Chief Fire Officer (CFO), Mr Edwin Ekow Blankson in a Press Conference on July 6, 2021 said the failure of the GWCL to supply them with water hindered their efforts to quench an inferno on Monday in Accra.
Mr Blankson also claimed that the fire hydrants within the Central Business District of Accra had been sealed since 1992.
The situation, according to the service, had made fire-fighting and rescue missions very difficult for the service.
Again, he said, efforts by the GNFS to have the hydrants reopened by the GWCL had proved futile.