GNFS holds stakeholders meeting to stem fire outbreaks
The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has held a stakeholders meeting to roll out safety measures to minimise fire outbreaks.
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The meeting, which brought together fire safety service providers and the management of the GNFS, discussed the measures to sanitise the certification process in order to improve on fire safety.
In a statement read on his behalf at the event, the Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Dr Albert Brown Gaisie, said every district fire station had been urged to do a risk categorisation and hazard mapping to enhance fire safety.
He said the GNFS had streamlined the process of the issuance of fire certificates as a measure to guard against infiltration of the process by persons with parochial interests who did not qualify to do the job.
“Substandard materials such as electric cables, fire extinguishers and poor quality of service have been identified as some of the causes of a number of fire outbreaks,” he said.
Collaboration from MMDAs
Dr Gaisie said plans were advanced to ensure that Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) created access routes in the markets to facilitate firefighting efforts. “The MMDAs are also expected to collaborate with engineers and personnel of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to ensure that proper electrical installations are done to prevent unnecessary fire outbreaks,” he said.
For his part, the Deputy Chief Fire Officer (DCFO), Mr Michael Yarquah, said there was the need for a new paradigm in the process of issuing certificates to clients who met fire safety requirements.
He said there was an embargo on the process because the authorities were working round the clock to roll out a better mode of certification.
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The acting Public Relations Officer of the GNFS, DO II Timothy Safo-Affum, urged the public to collaborate with the service to win the fight against fire, saying that it was a shared responsibility.
He said the necessary measures and laws must be made to regulate the putting up of high-rise buildings to conform with fire safety measures.
Involvement of GNFS officers
A service provider, Mr Godwin Kofi Akubra, was of the view that the situation where some personnel of the GNFS acted as service providers and monitors of the certification process was not helpful.
“We want a regulation to state clearly what is expected of a service provider and the GNFS officer. GNFS officers, who are the inspectors, are rather serving as fire safety service providers. They install the safety equipment and monitor as well. The public needs to know that the GNFS personnel are not supposed to be service providers,” he said.