A season of absurdities

The past ten or so months have seen so many calamities, and we are at a loss as to how to deliberate upon the period in question without sounding like a mischievous group of Ghanaians.

We would however prefer to leave the case of the chasing away of the Tema Oil Refinery-arranged ship from Nigerian waters including the preceding bloodbath on our highways, and concentrate rather on the disasters that have visited us in the past few weeks.

Such an enterprise, we do hope, would enable us to establish the fact that the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) as it is composed now, cannot be relied upon to deliver us from a conflagration should any take place as an act of God.

We do not pray to fall victim to any such infernos but then we have in place a statutory-established GNFS, so that should the unexpected happen, the body, expected to be professionally primed with the necessary equipment and know-how, can manage the situation in favour of the citizenry.

The few such mishaps to befall the country have not shown the GNFS as an establishment which can deliver us from the tongues of flames and we would not mince words in stating this. When a GNFS is turned into one engaged in chasing away hawkers from Accra pavements, why would they not fumble in the face of a raging fire.

Suffice it to recall what befell the Accra Metro Directorate of Education at Tudu a fortnight earlier.

When the Chief Security man at the place rushed to the nearby fire station in Accra Central, his hosts told him to go back and that they would join him soon. If that was not an act of irresponsibility we do not know what else is.

The security man left, thinking that the firemen were going to really rush to the scene of fire. Not so however; they continued to watch the international soccer match which at the time was for them the priority.

The security man who could not stand the destructive raging fire, returned to the location and his now angry hosts told him that they did not have a working fire tender.

Gosh! So why did they lie to him that they would join him? We are referring to a public building on fire and a national fire service station located within a walking distance from the scene of fire.

In the end, the disappointed security man, an unlettered fellow, left the firemen alone wondering what kind of a country we are in today.

The fire destroyed documents and other valuables belonging to the state and nothing to date has been done in the fashion of establishing what went wrong and who was responsible; let alone sanctions against such officers.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry took its turn a couple of days ago with a major fire outbreak larger in scale than the Metro Education Office one.

The difference in time between the two state establishments being engulfed in fire was a fortnight. Is it not mind-boggling that during the interregnum, the malfunctioning fire tender at the Accra fire station could not be fixed?

Was there any remorse on the part of whoever was responsible for the non-functioning fire tender? No, nothing; except the usual empty assurances like, “We would equip the GNFS so they can perform to expectation”, from state actors.

The truth is that and as confirmed by the PRO of the GNFS on Oman FM yesterday, the previous government raised a loan to enhance the equipment standing of the Service.

The laborious and time-consuming paper work entailed in getting things done has been responsible for the delayed delivery of the equipment.

For President Mills to attempt re-inventing the wheel with promises is tantamount to throwing dust into the eyes of the people.

We find it absurd that even before any professional investigations are conducted into the incident, some mischievous persons would want to create unnecessary bad blood among Ghanaians by alleging that it was a former minister who masterminded the arson with a view to thwarting the efforts of an investigating team. What nonsense! A season of absurdities indeed!

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