Enforce laws on bushfires- Yankey urges District Assemblies

Accra, Jan 11, GNA- Mr Samuel Assiem Yankey, Greater-Accra Regional Fire Officer has underscored the need for district assemblies to help enforce the law on bushfires.

He said fire volunteers in rural areas would give of their best in the management of bushfires so as to reduce the incidence to the barest minimum.

Mr Yankey, who was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra, reminded Ghanaians that PNDC Law 229 which made it an offence for anybody to cause bushfires was still in force. He, therefore, urged the various district assemblies to ensure that culprits were made to face the full rigours of the law.

Mr Yankey further called for the enforcement of the existing law, which made it illegal for vehicles other than emergency ones to use sirens.

The Regional Fire Officer assured the public that personnel of the Service would help control emergency situations, and urged motorists to give way to fire service personnel on beat with siren.

He appealed to the government to solve accommodation problem facing service personnel, so that in times of serious emergencies, the situations could be easily controlled.

Mr Yankey regretted that most senior personnel were not mobile, and stressed the need to provide them with vehicles and other logistics in order to make them contain fire outbreaks whenever they occurred. He urged the public to give fire service personnel the maximum co-operation to enable them to live up to expectation.