Intractable Infernos!

There have been so many fire outbreaks that we seem to be losing count of them. The Kumasi market inferno, which has expectedly thrown many households into a state of uncontrollable despair, is one of the latest in a series of fires to afflict the country.

We hear that the US fire investigation experts are still around and have gone to the latest fire scene to probe what could be behind the seeming intractable fire outbreaks.

It is our hope that the Americans would come up with a credible report that can adequately replace the series of speculations being bandied around by politicians with a view to pulling the plugs on the infernos.

The irresponsible speculations, unfortunate as they are, have found in the minds of the gullible a place to fester thereby widening the destructive chasm of local politics. That is after all their objective for embarking on that filthy journey.

It is instructive, though, that the average Ghanaian is now able to winnow the grains from the chaff, laughing off the crazy and largely unsound speculations. Otherwise why would supporters of a political party set ablaze a market perceived to be their stronghold? It sounds crazy.

It is our expectation and that of the rest of Ghanaians that the experts would expedite action on their work and release a report which would not only be credible but capable of generating workable recommendations that would close the chapter on the fires.

Such a report must be publicised so all Ghanaians would understand what really caused the fires which politicians have turned into a propaganda quarry to advance their filthy cause .

Information about how some markets are being guarded by armed security personnel, especially in Tamale, is an indication about how desperate we have become about the scary situation.

We must all be our neighbour's keepers and become more security conscious than we have been, as an alternative means of obviating the fires. Questions about the efficient performance of our newly-tooled Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), especially their response to emergencies, have been raised in some quarters and we concur with the queries.

Why have they so far been unable to stop the fires from spreading beyond their starting points to the extent that whole markets are razed to the ground? A national discourse on this drawback would be a wonderful idea as we wallow in this state of helplessness.

The state-of-the-art fire engines acquired at expensive cost to the state should have put us on top of such dreaded conditions.

Perhaps while looking at the causes of these mysterious fires, we could, as a matter of urgency, ask questions about what is drawing the GNFS from being on top of the fires. We hope that the Kumasi fire is the last in the series anyway. Enough is enough!

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