Ghana Fire Service under-resourced – Former Board Chair

The Former Board Chairman for the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) under the previous Mills-Mahama administration, Alhaji Amadu Sorogho is calling on the government to resource the service in order for them to improve upon their mandated service to the nation.

“The government should turn its eyes to the Ghana Fire Service. Because I am not happy that up till now fire tenders bought by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, not a single one has been added,” the former board chair alleged.

Speaking on Ghana Kasa on Agoo T.V/Kasapa 102.5 Fm Tuesday, he said: “if you need diesel to fuel the fire tenders and you don’t have it, your budget has been cut by 70% and the 30% left also delay incoming” definitely the Service will have challenges.

His comments come in the wake of recent fire outbreaks witnessed in the country.

“On my way here, I heard there was a fire outbreak at Techiman market. We sympathise with all of the victims of the fire especially the NDC Regional Chairman who lost over ten million Ghana cedis.”

The Former Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina called on the Authorities to probe the cause of the inferno.

“The era of Prof. Mills we increased the capacity of the tankers from 1000 gallons to 3000 gallons. So we normally use water tanks to support the fire tenders. But the unfortunate news is that I asked and I am told more of these tanks bought are not in good condition for use,” he disclosed.

Alhaji Sorogho said he came to meet 41 Fire Tenders across the nation and through hard work of the NDC government at the time it was increased to 229.

On the causes of fires in the country, he said: “there are many factors that cause fire outbreak. During my tenure, Ministry for Foreign Affairs had their office burnt down by fire, a portion of the residence of late President Rawlings got burnt, Tema Medical Stores also was gutted by fire. And most of the investigations conducted points out to wiring,” he stated.

He continued: “this challenge of dumsor, when the lights go off, sometimes restoring power come with high voltage which can trigger the fire. The use of inferior wires for buildings even though there are rules that developers should follow, such as contacting the Assemblies and the Ghana Fire Service some citizens hardly follow these processes.”

He claimed cooking in the markets by traders using gas cookers and coal-pots which are mostly not taken care of after use contributes to the recent fire outbreaks in the markets.

The former board chairman however called on drivers in the country to give way for Fire Tenders to move freely when they are on their way to fight fire.