MMDAs urged to be responsible for the deployment of fire volunteer squads

Accra, March 26, GNA - The Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee (IMCC) on Decentralization has recommended that the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) be retained as a de-concentrated security agency with a centralized command.

The Service must also maintain a regimented top-down command and control structure, and should be made specifically responsible for the fighting and extinguishing of undesired fires, the IMCC stated.

The IMCC also recommended that Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs) should support the GNFS in their districts through the provision of physical infrastructure such as fire stations, staff bungalows and logistics.

The IMCC recommendations was stated in a communiqué issued at the end of a four day workshop for top management staff of GNFS in Koforidua and copied to the Ghana News Agency.

The Communiqué jointly signed by Dr Callistus Mahama, IMCC Executive Secretary and Brigadier General Jbe Guyiri, Chief Fire Officer, recommended the amended of GNFS Act 1997, Act 537; Local Government Act 1993, Act 462; and Local Government Instrument, 2009 L.I. 1961.

The IMCC also called for MMDAS to be responsible for the registration, management and deployment of fire volunteer squads trained by the GNFS, harmonize approach to the provision of fire services at the district and sub-sector levels the head of local government service.

The IMCC recommended that MMDAs should continue to chair the District Fire Service Committees and the District Security Committees established under the GNFS Act, 1997, Act, 537 and the Security Intelligence Agencies Act, 1996, Act526,'

GNA