The Ministry’s Fire Station of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), together with the Police and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), embarked on a fire safety awareness exercise at the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) branch of the Tema Lorry Station in Accra yesterday.
Touring the market, the team realised that there was an increase in unauthorised electricity connection, illegal reconnection, tampering or interfering with internal mechanisms of meters.
It further discovered that the market was congested as there was no means of escape in case of fire outbreak. There was also the use of smaller size cables and the overload of cables in terminal meters among others.
Divisional Officer (DOII) Naomi Ofori-Adubea, District Commander of the Fire Station said the exercise was due to the recent increase in fires at market places in the country.
She said they were being proactive in order to prevent and manage undesired fire in the area.
DO II Ofori-Adubea noted that the segregation of items at the market place would help the service identify areas in case of an emergency.
The District Commander advised the traders to do three minutes proper checks before leaving the market to avoid outbreaks.
“We don’t want markets to burn for the government to spend in building new markets,” she said adding, that the money could be used to create jobs for the youth.
DO II Ofori-Adubea urged the public to always call the Fire Service emergency line 192 for quick response in the event of a fire incident.
Engineer Fredrick Stanley Ansah, the Safety Officer of the Accra East District of the ECG said the activities of the traders contravened LI 1651 (1999) and LI 1816 (2005) as it was criminal.
Cautioning the traders to desist from the act, he advised them to engage the services of licensed electricians to prevent outbreaks.
Police Inspector Kwadwo Apau of the Ministry’s Police Station said as part of the exercise two males were arrested for illegal connection and sent to the office of the ECG, adding that they would be prosecuted if they failed to pay their penalties.
BY ALLIA NOSHIE