Tema-Ghana, Aug. 25, GNA – Ghana National Fire Service Tema Regional Command has engaged Tema Community One market queens to sensitise them against citing structures on fire hydrants in the market and dangers associated with such acts and called on all traders to be vigilant.
GNFS and Traders Engagement formed part of the activities marking the 2023 Fire Safety Campaign being organized by Tema Regional Fire Command.
Assistant Chief Fire Officer I (ACFOI), Madam Doris Lamptey, GNFS Tema Regional Commander, together with her team, used the opportunity to tour the market and interact with fire incident victims and the market women.
She explained the significance of fire hydrants, the dangers associated with blocking access to them, and their likely impact in case of any fire incident in the market, “and tasked the traders to police all fire hydrants in the markets.
ACFOI Lamptey, however, revealed that upon inspecting the hydrants, the team noticed encroachment on two out of the three.
“We realised that the market women had put their clothes, tables, and all kinds of things, and they were filled with refuse, making it difficult to even have access to them.
“When we finally had access to them, they were unserviceable. So with the two that are unserviceable, we will liaise with the Ghana Water Company to see how best we can put them back on track,” she said.
She said the only one that was functioning was in the walkway filled with sand, and arrangements will be made to put some signage on it so that in case of any eventualities in the market, they will have access to use it.
She advised the market women and all traders in the Community One market to stay away from the hydrants, whether serviceable or not, stressing that if there’s a fire outbreak, it made it easy for the GNFS to help them extinguish the fire so that it wouldn’t spread to other shops.
She indicated, however, that the outbreak of fires within the whole region, especially at the market, had dwindled with the effort of their campaigns and sensitizations.
The commander noted that they were encouraged by the education programmes so far because people understood the fire service and gave them attention whenever they met; however, their efforts would be intensified for more improvement.
Mr. Kwesi Agyeman, the Market Coordinator for Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA), thanked the GNFS on behalf of the over 50 Queen Mothers for the visit and assured that a report of the meeting will be forwarded to the Assembly.
