Anti-bush fire campaign launched in Yung Duuni
An Anti-Bush Fire campaign was on Wednesday launched in Yung Duuni, a farming community in the Sagnarigu Municipality of the Northern Region, to protect farm produce and preserve the vegetation cover from the destruction of wildfires.
The purpose of the campaign was to intensify awareness on the causes, effects, risks and how to prevent bushfires in the area as they were in dry season.
The campaign dubbed, ‘Effective bushfire prevention, stakeholders role in ensuring a greener tomorrow’ was organised by the Northern Regional Command of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS).
Launching the campaign, the Northern Regional Public Relation Officer of the GNFS, ADOI Hudu Baba, said the harmattan period was known as a fire season in the Northern part of the country.
He stated that it was the reason, the service as part of its plans, targeted farmlands and produce from possible fire during and after the dry season.
“Harmattan season is always a crucial period for farmers where people set fires unnecessarily to cause havoc to produce of farmers,” he said.
He added that the campaign aimed to ensure that they educate the people to prevent them from indiscriminate burning during this time of the year.
The PRO called for more collaboration between the traditional authorities and the GNFS in various traditional areas and the assemblies to support the campaign in order to achieve its purpose.
Moreover, he noted that the campaign was not ending where they launched it but they would move from one traditional location to the other to ensure that the education goes down with them effectively.
He urged the traditional leaders and the farmers to support them strongly to educate the masses on the effects of bush burning in their communities.
ADOI Baba stated that the GNFS had over the years worked tirelessly through education, sensitisation, and community engagement to reduce or stop this canker completely in the region.
“This year campaign is a strategy hinged on vigorous and effective public education with the spotlight on the causes, the effects, and how to prevent or minimise bush fires in our communities” he added.
The PRO advised the public to report people who engaged in bush burning to the traditional authorities, the District Assemblies, or the police for the law to deal with them.
The Municipal Chief Executive for Sagnarigu, Mr Mohammed Ahmed Polo, said the assembly would support the campaign to ensure that it achieved its objectives.
He said his outfit would liaise with the chiefs in every community in the municipality to effectively monitor people that would not abide by the set rules and regulations
FROM YAHAYA NUHU NADAA, YUNG DUUNI