The Bureau of Public Safety is urging the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) to increase public awareness and education about fire prevention.
According to the Bureau, the service must be proactive in ensuring that ongoing fire incidents are brought under control, particularly in the Ashanti Region.
This is in response to the growing number of fires in the Ashanti Region, the most recent of which destroyed a section of the New Kejetia Market and Silver FM this week.
The fire service has repeatedly urged the government to properly equip the organization in order for it to effectively combat fires in the country.
In response to the issue, Nana Yaw Akwada, Executive Director of the Bureau of Public Safety, says it will be a step in the right direction if safety measures to prevent these outbreaks are enforced rather than the country investing funds in equipment that may become obsolete in the near future.
“They should be proactive. Firefighting all over the world is a capital-intensive endeavour and as a poor struggling nation we cannot and should not lock up scarce resources into firefighting equipment which may become outmoded after a few years when we can actually relatively lower investments at preventing these fires by mapping out spaces for enforcement and education”.
