Environmentalist links rampant fire outbreaks to reduction in soil moisture

Environmentalist, Nana Dwomoh Sarpong, has attributed the many fire incidents being recorded across the country, to the results of climate change and the disregard for laid down procedures by developers.

The country since the beginning of the year, has recorded shattering industrial, domestic and bushfires, leading to loss of property as well as agricultural produce, worth millions of Ghana cedis.

Some have suggested the Harmattan, which is characterised by dry winds, may have contributed to the cases being reported.

But Nana Dwomoh Sarpong, who is also President of Friends of Rivers and Water Bodies, a Non-Governmental Organisation, has observed human factor is greatly to blame in the majority of the cases reported.

According to him, the country is likely to witness “serious drought” than what was experienced in 1983, as a result of the atmosphere being dry.

He told Myjoyonline.com that, the decrease of moisture in the soil, which is the result of diversion of streams and water bodies, has led to a reduction in underground water, which can aid the spread of fire.

He cited the failure by authorities to preserve the natural courses of water bodies in places that used to have streams, as one of the causes of some of the devastating fire incidents, particularly that of the Skyere Central, in the Ashanti Region last Monday.

The Environmentalist cautioned that more serious disasters could hit the country soon, when the rains set in.

This he said, is due to the fact that many buildings are standing in water ways which could result in flooding and disease outbreaks that can cost the nation grimly.

Nana Dwomoh Sarpong therefore urged the law enforcement agencies to be strict in applying the penalties to those who breach the law.