Govt will retool GNFS to fight fires

The Minister for the Interior, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, has assured management and staff of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) of the government’s commitment to retool the service to become active and responsive in the fight against fires in the country.

According to him, the government, under President John Dramani Mahama was poised to ensure that the various security agencies, including the GNFS, were equipped with the state of the art firefighting equipment to curb the increasing fires in the  markets and in residential areas in spite of the economic challenges  the country faced.

“There cannot be economic prosperity if fire will come and gut everything we have suffered to acquire, the reason we need to prevent them,” he stated.

The Interior Minister made this known, when he paid a working visit to the service last Wednesday to acquaint himself with activities of personnel of the service, their challenges, motivation and to assure them of the government’s readiness to build the confidence the people of Ghana had in them.

The Minister said for the past years, the service had created the avenue for personnel of the GNFS to fight fires and also improve upon their work.

Welfare issues

He noted that the government was considering ways to improve the welfare of personnel of the service for them to become productive, dedicated and have some form of satisfaction while working, and after retirement.

“We cannot accept the fact that after all efforts placed into acquiring wealth and properties are in the end destroyed by fire,” he stated.

We need to build a country that will be secured, uninterrupted and safe for its people to reside in to contribute to the economic development of the country.

He further noted that President Mahama was poised to ensure that personnel were provided with the needed logistics, motivation and good welfare packages to keep them afloat to keep the country and properties safe.

Technology

The minister said President Mahama’s quest for a technological advancement in the service was ripe and  appealled to all personnel to embrace technology as the effective means to fight fires in this dispensation.

He, however, called on personnel of the GNFS to devise several means to upgrade themselves to meet the challenge ahead of them to curb fires as had been the practice in other advanced countries.

Mr Muntaka insisted that the  ministry would welcome every significant suggestion from the service and implement for them to create a conducive environment for the  people, however, he was quick to add that personnel should work with the leadership of the service to ensure that such developments are not left to waste away.

“We are moving from the era of manual fighting of fires to more advanced and quick ways of keeping lives and properties safe,” he stressed.

Partnership

He further highlighted the need for the service to look out for profit  to help improve the work of the service, since over reliance on the government might hinder the progress and hard work of the service.

He reiterated that the  ministry would continue to lend support through the government’s interventions to the various security services including  the GNFS.

The Minister was emphatic that the government would  take the insurance of all security agencies, especially in the line of duty very seriously, so that it served as a motivation for them to work assiduously for the country.

“We will pursue this very seriously so that when they are taking the risk they will be mindful that the government has their back” he noted.

According to Julius Aalebkure Kuunuor, Chief Fire Officer in his address commended the minister for deciding to visit the service upon his assumption as the minister for the Interior.

He, however, commended government through the ministry for the support in the past years and noted that with his taking over of the ministry, he was hopeful that the service will experience dynamism, dedication and logistical support to augment their daily work of fighting fires anywhere in the country.

He went further to note that personnel of the service were ready and willing to ensure that all forms of fires were dealt with when they happen.

Education

He assured the minister that several strategies had been taken to educate the people in their work places, at the various schools, and markets. This had gone down well and helped in the reduction of fire outbreaks in the country.

He therefore, expressed the hope that there would be fire stations in all the districts to help quickly address fire situations when they occur to prevent delays and when there were fires.

“The service will go the extra mile to salvage every property acquired by all and nothing will stop us provided we have the needed equipment to do so” he stressed.