Costly Inferno

Expectedly, the inferno which consumed the Central Medical Stores at Tema last Tuesday has generated a medley of questions about the shortcomings of the management of state institutions.

The lessons that should be learnt from previous fire outbreaks are definitely lost on those who should adopt measures to obviate future recurrences.

The thick pall of smoke towering over the Port City   and the time it took the fire fighters to bring the fire under control spoke volumes about the quantity of items consumed by the inferno.

We have ignored as a country the importance of adhering to construction regulations. That is why when fire tenders respond to fire alarms, meandering their way through difficult obstacles constitutes a major challenge, competing stiffly with the task of fighting the fire itself.

Unfortunately, this problem continues to be a feature of fire fighting in the country, popping up on the public domain as a subject of discussion when there is a fresh outbreak.

Fire hydrants at the location were said to have been covered by concrete. If we may ask, for how long was this situation holding? Who should have ensured that the right thing was done?

The fact that fire fighters had to get obstacles on their way removed by crane, in some cases, says it all about the trouble fire fighters go through before getting to the epicentre of fires.

As for the replenishing of the fire tenders with water, the absence of nearby fire hydrants explains why the efficiency of fire fighters was hampered, providing an impetus for the inferno to tease the fire fighters.

Considering the importance of the contents of the place, it was unacceptable that state-of-the-art smoke detectors, sprinklers and others were not fitted there. It was like keeping modern drugs in an antiquated warehouse waiting to be consumed by an inferno.

Losing over GH¢200 million in destroyed drugs is a challenge we cannot ignore. In some dispensations, such a loss would definitely see important personalities within the chain of command resigning their appointments.

Another challenge is about why we decide to as it were, put all our eggs in a single basket. Perhaps when the medical warehouse is rebuilt it will not be the sole repository of essential drugs in the country. We have regrettably learnt that drugs belonging to landlocked West African countries are stocked there waiting to be transported to such places.

It was shocking to learn after the inferno that the Central Medical Stores was not insured. The Interior Minister has already jumped the gun by expressing his suspicion about arson.

With hindsight, we are unable to vouch for the quality of the outcome of the commission of enquiry that would certainly be set up to probe the inferno. Ghana does not lack fire committee reports; some so-called experts were even imported into the country to probe the Kantamanto fire outbreak. At the end of the day the recommendations are neatly stuck in dusty shelves at the relevant ministry.