Fire volunteers pass out

Kpatia (N/R), Nov. 3, GNA- It is estimated that losses through bushfires in the country cost about one billion cedis in agricultural production.

About 90 percent of fire outbreaks in the country are due to human carelessness, Mr Mohammed Habib Tijani, Yendi District Chief Executive, said in a speech read for him at a passing out of 25 fire volunteers at Kpatia in the Yendi District.

Mr Tijani expressed the need for the district to cut down drastically, if not eliminate, the incidence of bushfires in the area. He commended the Rural Development Programme (RDP), an outfit of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana, and the District Directorate of the Ghana National Fire Service for training the volunteers.

Mr Joshua Nyaaba, Programme Officer of the RDP, said the Church was also engaged in educating the people on malnutrition, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, environmental degradation, sanitation and health.

He said as an agricultural establishment, the RDP had trained 61 women and 24 men in integrated pest management. Mr Nyaaba said because of education the Church had given to the people in the area on bushfires, some communities had established teak plantations to serve as windbreaks around their farms and also serve as fuel wood and rafters.