Chief Fire Officer warns firefighters over extortion of money from public
The Chief Fire Officer, Dr Albert Brown Gaisie, has warned personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) who extort monies from the public under the pretext of issuing them with fire certificates to desist from the act.
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He cautioned that those found culpable would be dealt with because the act was illegal.
At a meeting between the GNFS and fire safety service providers in Accra, Dr Gaisie said the illegal action had consequences on fire safety, since they issued the certificates without the thorough assessment was required.
The meeting which brought together fire safety service providers from different parts of the country was to discuss ways to streamline precautions and protective measures of fire safety in the country.
Service providers
On the fire safety service providers, Dr Gaisie expressed concern about how some service providers obtained fire certificates without going through the laid-down procedures, while charlatans who did not have knowledge about fire safety posed as fire consultants.
He, therefore, urged the qualified service providers to ensure that their operations conformed to fire service standards and complied with the regulations and rules guiding fire safety in the country.
The service, he said, would also clamp down on imposters who were doing shoddy work.
“We are also going to validate the activities of the service providers and those who do not comply with professionalism will not be issued with certificates for their clients,” he stated.
Provisional certificates
Dr Gaisie reiterated that the service had suspended the issuance of fire certificates for it to review the procedures and processes.
After the review, he explained that the issuance of the certificates would start as provisional certificates for six months, while the proper certificates would be granted after proper monitoring and evaluation by a committee.
The Chief Fire Officer added that the risk assessment based on which certificates were issued was going to be categorised into low, medium and high to differentiate the compliance of safety standard.
On capacity building, Dr Gaisie urged service providers to invest in building the capacity of their staff continuously to help them keep abreast of changing trends in fire safety, as well as help in the field on risk assessment.
Dr Gaisie assured the service providers of the necessary support, adding that the current fire safety precaution regulations, 2003 was being reviewed and that their input would be considered to make the document workable.