Adhere to safety measures when building

Kumasi , Aug. 7, GNA - Mr Obeng Dankwah Dwamena, Ashanti Regional Fire Officer, has called on Ghanaians to adhere to safety measures in the building of houses to help prevent disasters.

He said by engaging the services of professionals and adherence to laid down safety measures in the construction of housing, they could reduce the risk of disasters.

Mr Dankwah was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Kumasi on Friday.

He noted that most people ignore the need to ensure that their houses have access routes for ambulance, fire and the police in case of emergencies.

He said with the current state of development in the various suburbs in the Metropolis, it was necessary to ensure that fire hydrants were extended to new sites to enable the fire service to get access to water to put out fires.

He called on the Ghana Water Company (GWC) to repair non-functioning fire hydrants in the Kumasi Metropolis to enhance fire fighting by personnel of the service.

Touching on the issue of false alarm, Mr Dwamena said it was time people stopped the practice as this puts the lives of firemen at risk.

The Region recorded 24 phoney fire telephone calls within the first half of this year as against 23 during the same period last year.

The Ashanti Region currently has 19 fire stations and two fire posts.

Mr Dwamena said new stations were going to be opened in the newly created districts as soon as they took delivery of fire tenders.

He said they had asked institutions that had not yet obtained fire certificates to put in place all the necessary mechanisms to receive them to help to protect the lives of people who patronise their facilities.

GNA