The Member of Parliament for South Tongu, Maxwell Kwame Lukutor has expressed concerns about the inadequate investment into the oprational efficiency of the Ghana National Fire Service over the years rendering it ineffective in the discharge of its mandate.
According to him, the inability for the fire service to respond to emergencies situations in time is as a result of logistical bottlenecks, lack access routes to places of fire-out breaks and poor conditions of service of personnel including accomodation challenges.
“…No serious investment has been made into the fire service as a unit. And sometimes even if you go to their places of residence and offices, you’ll lament that these are the people we want to come and help us fight fire at very short notice, I’m personally helping them put up the office structure make it more habitable, maybe very soon, I’ll be done with that and then inaugurate or commission that. So in as much as we look at ourselves and the damage caused to our property, we also want to look at the condition they find themselves is workers who we want to help us fight fire in times of need”, he noted.
Mr Lukutor said these on the floor of parliament on Wednesday 5, February, 2025 in a contribution to a statement on rampant fire outbreaks especially market fires across the country.
The MP was not happy about the poor planning of the country’s spatial spaces that sometimes hinder effective fire-fighting when they occur and called for urgent action to prevent future hindrances.
“So we want to look at what the Fire Service does to us in times of this nature (during fire outbreaks). Of course they always complain of the challenges they have, their facilities, the hydrants, even some of them without water in, and sometimes as a surveyor, we have challenge about the fire service tender even get into our homes because of the poor planning practices that we have had over the period. And so in as much we want the fire service to attend to us, as quickly as possible and to help us salvage the situation we find ourselves in, Mr Speaker, I want to say that, we look into our planning laws, and not allow people to wantonly build on access roads that have been left based on our designs and planning”, he said.
The South Tongu lawmaker also urged the need for the provision of the requisite tools for enhanced fire-fighting.
..”I also believe that the workers themselves and the equipment they use, as a government and as a society, we should always be conscious of whether they have the facilities they can use in fighting fire”.
Mr Maxwell Kwame Lukutor expressed optimism that the state will as a matter of urgency work towards resolving the equipment and accommodation challenges facing the Ghana National Fire Service and its personnel.
“And I pray that together as a people, we’ll help resolve their issues of equipment, places of abode, and also their office space, thank you so much Mr Speaker” the South Tongu MP concluded.
By: Christian Kpesese
