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Produce fire report – Parliament tells government

Some Members of Parliament (MPs) yesterday expressed worry over the delay by the government to release the report of the US fire experts on market fires in the country and called for its release immediately.

In the wake of the market fires early this year, the government sought assistance from US experts to unravel the mystery surrounding the incidents, but months after the committee had submitted its report, the government is yet to make its contents known to the public.

And so when Mr Afenyo-Markin, the MP for Effutu, raised the issue of fires in a statement on the floor of the House, some MPs, particular Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey (Anyaa/Sowutuom), chided the government for not releasing the report to the public.

“We need to know what exactly the experts said in their report,” she said.

 Statistics

Fifty-seven people lost their lives in 3,077 fire incidents recorded across the country between January and June, this year.

 The figure represents an average of four deaths and 522 fires monthly, with financial loss amounting to GH¢2.83 million monthly.

A further breakdown of the figures indicates that at least 128 fires occurred weekly, with a life lost and GH¢700,000 in costs.

The data, released by the Ghana National Fire Service (GNSF), gave the breakdown as 1,116 domestic, 110 industrial, 367 vehicular and 58 institutional fires, while 274 were attributed to electrical faults.

Commercial fires accounted for 281, with bush fires and others resulting in 871 cases.

The Ashanti Region topped the list with 697 fire incidents, followed by the Brong Ahafo, 468; Greater Accra, 370; Eastern, 290 and Western, 266.

The rest are Central Region, 233; Tema, 184; Northern, 166; Upper East, 125; Upper West, 98 and the Volta, 55.

In the wake of the market fire incidents, Ms Botchwey, in collaboration with three other MPs from the Minority side, filed a motion for the incidents to be debated on the floor of the House.

But the motion was not debated as a result of the changing of the wording by the Speaker, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho.

Ms Botchwey, therefore, used the occasion to call on the Speaker to reconsider his  decision not to allow her and her colleagues to debate the motion in its original wording.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the MP for Akwapim South, Mr Osei Bonsu Amoah, said the whole nation was worried about the delay in the release of the report, against the background that some high ranking government officials suspected that the incidents were politically motivated.

“It has been some months, but it appears that the government is not ready to release the report. It will do us good if we get to know what really the experts found to be the causes of the market fires,” he said.

That, according to the MP, would help the country avert future disasters, adding that it was not good enough for the government to invite experts and sit on their report in the end.

“At least we expect that a White Paper will be issued to give Ghanaians a gist of the report to advise us on how to avert such fire incidents. That is the least we can expect from the government,” he noted.

Mr Amoah called on the Minister of  the Interior to take a cue from the comments from the MPs and publish the report.

He said the danger in keeping the report would be that Ghanaians would be at a loss as to whether the speculations made in the wake of the fire incidents were true or not.

 Afenyo-Markin’s statement

In his statement, Mr Afenyo-Markin said his constituency had experienced a fire outbreak at its central market in July, this year, while another fire gutted the Municipal Government Hospital in Winneba.

The fire at the hospital, according to him, started about 10 p.m. on Monday, October 28 and swept through the Pharmacy and the Stores departments.

He said although there had been no casualties, the health of the people of Winneba and its environs was in jeopardy because the hospital catered for between 400 and 500 patients daily and that due to the effects of the fire, it would be impossible for it to discharge its duties effectively.

The medical equipment and consumables lost during the fire were estimated at more than GH¢2 million.

Mr Afenyo-Markin, therefore, appealed to the government to attach urgency to the matter and replace the medical apparatus, gadgets and drugs lost during the fire incident to ensure the smooth operation of the hospital.

He advised the Ministry of Health to ensure the quick replacement of items during such fire disasters.

 MPs’ contributions

The MP for Wa West, Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, said since hospital equipment and consumables were very expensive, everything possible should be done to check systems in order to forestall such calamities.

“If one fire does this, you can’t tell where next and that is why I will advise that a mechanism be put in place for the periodic examination of all equipment at hospitals,” he said.

The MP for Ablekuma Central, Mr Theophilus Tettey Chaie, said for some time now the country had been experiencing “fire here, fire there and fire everywhere”.

 He called on the maintenance departments of state institutions to be up and doing and suggested that officials at those departments should be surcharged for not performing their duties.

For her part, the MP for Dome/Kwabenya, Ms Sarah Adwoa Safo, also called for adherence to a strict maintenance culture.

She also appealed to MPs and other government officials to assist in educating their constituents in order to curb fire incidents in the country.

 Daily Graphic/Ghana

A version of this article appears in print on November 7, 2013, on page 16 of the Daily Graphic with the headline: Produce fire report – Parliament tells government

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