Interior Minister blames poor intelligence for market fires
The security agencies have been tasked to intensify their intelligence gathering to prevent the persistent fire outbreaks at the country’s markets.
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The Minister of the Interior, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, who made the call, said market fires might be the work of arsonists but indicated that those people succeeded in their acts because of the weak intelligence system.
"We believe that there are unseen hands, but we are unable to catch them because the intelligence system is weak. I am wondering whether our intelligence system hasn't collapsed," he lamented.
Mr Ahwoi was opening the first quarter conference for directors and regional commanders of the Ghana National Fire and Rescue Service (GNFRS) in Accra yesterday.
The three-day conference, which focuses on how to shift the focus of firefighting from the reactive to the proactive approach, is on the theme: "Managing the Paradigm Shift to Optimise the Human and Material Resources Towards Enhanced Safety and Disaster Management".
Market surveillance
Mr Ahwoi noted that in Europe and America, intelligence officers were deployed to crime spots and indicated that some of the officers could pose as mad men.
In that way, he said, they were able to detect and expose criminals.
However, in Ghana the security agencies reacted only after the occurrence of a fire or any other disaster, he said, adding, "We react only when it occurs."
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The minister said the market fires, including those at the Kantamanto, Agbogbloshie (in Accra) and the Kumasi Central markets, had got out of hand and were creating panic and insecurity among traders.
He, therefore, stressed the need for the security agencies to consider deploying officers to markets and other fire-prone areas to gather intelligence and prevent their occurrence.
Fire damage
Statistics from the GNFRS indicate that 4,577 fire outbreaks were recorded in 2012, compared to 5,489 in 2013.
The resultant cost of damage, according to the statistics, was GH¢10,321,963 in 2012 and GH¢25,081,919 in 2013.
Logistics
While affirming the government's resolve to equip the GNFRS, Mr Ahwoi said it had imported 80 new fire engines from India to boost the fleet of the service.
Besides, he said, the government was working on a facility to equip the service with quick intervention vehicles which would be able to go through constricted areas to fight fire.
“The government has also planned to establish a new Fire Service Staff College at Ayikuma in the Greater Accra Region,” he said.
Chief Fire Officer
The acting Chief Fire Officer, Brigadier General John Bosco Guyiri, observed that over the past two decades, the fire sector had witnessed remarkable changes, including the increasing number of high-rise buildings and the presence of electrical and gas-operated appliances in almost every home, office and shop.
"With improvement in science and technology, we have been experiencing increases in fire hazards that pose a threat to lives and property,” he stated.
Brigadier General Guyiri said the service's approach in the past had centred mainly on firefighting (reactive), as opposed to fire safety management (proactive).
He said the reactive approach was associated with the high cost of fire equipment, limited supply of firefighting equipment, high fatality rate, high cost of fighting fire, poor access to fire scenes, inadequate access to water supply and the cultural practices of the people.
He said the service wanted to shift its approach to a firefighting management regime which involved systematic examination of premises and their hazards, firefighting education and sensitisation, as well as premises audit and submission of recommended action plans.
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