Bushfires, a major concern
Bushfires, a major concern
19 December 2007
published by www.thestatesmanonline.com
Ghana — Ignatius Baffour Awuah, Brong Ahafo Regional Minister has called on the government and the various district assemblies in the country to come out with stringent laws to punish those who negligently cause bushfires.
Some of the existing bye-laws, he stated, “are so lax that they do not serve as a deterrent so such offenders keep on breaking the laws blatantly.”
Mr Baffour-Awuah made the call on Friday at Sunyani during the stakeholders’ forum of the 2007/2008 National Anti-Bushfires Campaign.
The forum was attended by over 300 participants made up of heads of organisations and institutions, the Armed Forces, Police, Fire Service, Prisons Service, Fire Volunteers, District Assemblies, Nananom, among other stakeholders.
The Regional Minister lamented that fire had engulfed some parts of the country. He said all hands should be on deck as fighting bushfire is everyone’s responsibility.
AB Gaisie, Deputy Chief Fire Officer entreated the public to be more proactive in the handling and controlling of bushfires, adding that personnel from the Ghana Fire Service could not perform the arduous task alone.
Answering a question, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer said that GNFS was aware of the acute shortage of logistics especially vehicles in its district offices for operations and promised that the problems would be solved in due course.
Douglas Asiedu Akrofi, Acting National Coordinator of NADMO, donated 300 pairs of Wellington boots and boxes of cutlasses to be redistributed to fire volunteers in the region.
On behalf of Ghana Cocoa Board, Charles Bernard Ntim, Deputy Chief Executive In-Charge of Operations presented a cheque of Gh¢1,000 to the organisers of the National Stakeholders Forum.
