Upper East declares zero tolerance for bush fire

Bolgatanga, Jan. 27, GNA - Mr Mark Owen Woyongo, Upper East Regional Minister on Thursday declared 2011, a zero tolerance year for bush burning.

Mr Woyongo said the indiscriminate bush burning experienced over the years in the region was the cause of the many socio economic problems facing the people.

He said many lives and property were lost due to the setting of bush fires by some farmers, hunters and honey tapers.

Mr Woyongo made the declaration during the launching of the 2010/11 Anti-Bush Fire campaign, a day set aside every year for awareness creation on bush fire at the National and Regional levels.

This Year's event which was on the theme: "Bush Fires Contribute to the Impoverishment of the Nation, stop it now", was jointly organised by the Ghana National Fire Service and the Bongo District.

He said though cases of bush fires dropped from 32 in 2009 to 21 last year, the practice was still alarming and called on everybody in the region to be part of efforts to minimise the menace to the barest minimum.

Mr Woyongo congratulated the chief of Bongo, Naba Salifu Alemyarum and people of his traditional area for the vigilant role they played to ensure that no bush burning was recorded in the past 10 years.

He entreated the chiefs and people of the region to emulate the example and also desist from all forms of activities that destroy the environment.

He urged the traditional authorities, municipal and district assemblies to come out with appropriate bye-laws for sanctioning people who cause bush fires as well as those who fell economic trees such as shea, dawadawa and mango.

Mr Wynni Azomyann, Regional Acting Chief Fire Officer said the event was organised to create awareness on the negative impact of bush burning, saying poor soil fertility, low farm yields and leeching were among the many consequences of bush burning.

He said the PNDC law 229 of 1990 had not been punitive enough and asked the municipal and district assemblies to make it a duty to manage bush fires.

He cited challenges such as lack of protective materials, fire fighting equipment and incentives for fire volunteers that affected the operations of the service in the region.