Fire Service to demolish illegal structures

All illegal structures sited in front of basic and secondary schools in the country will be pulled down.

The exercise, which is a collaborative effort between the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs), is aimed at enabling the personnel of the GNFS to have easy access to schools in case of any fire outbreak.

The Deputy Public Relations Officer of the GNFS, Mr Prince Billy Anaglate, who disclosed this to the Junior Graphic, said the service had realised that most schools in the country had illegal structures erected in front of them which would make it difficult for fire personnel to have access to the schools in case of fire outbreaks.

‘Go to Dansoman, Osu, La, Kaneshie in Accra and almost everywhere in the country - the problem persists. We will start the exercise in Accra and it will be replicated in all the other regions,’ he added.

Mr Anaglate said a task force comprising personnel of the service and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), had been constituted to start the exercise in Accra.

‘The task force will first post notices on those illegal structures in front of schools in order for the concerned individuals to remove the structures themselves. If they fail to heed to the notices, it will lead to a demolition of the structures,’ he emphasised.

He, therefore, advised individuals whose structures were sited in front of schools to, in their own interest, look for suitable places for their structures, adding that: ‘If they wait for us to get in there, we will demolish them and ensure that they are made to pay penalties.’

The GNFS Deputy PRO accordingly advised school authorities to inform the appropriate authorities when they see people put up structures in front of the schools.

Meanwhile, Mr Anaglate said as part of the collaboration, the MMDAs would ensure that all schools have sources of water and hydrants installed in their premises so that in the event of fire in the schools, personnel of the GNFS would have uninterrupted water supply.