New Town residents briefed on fire safety

Tuesday, April 25, 2017 

Personnel of the GNFS engage in discussion with the traders 

The Tema New Town District Command of the Ghana Fire Service have embarked on a programme to educate market women of the New Town main market on fire prevention.

The fire personnel, led by the District Fire Commander, Divisional Officer III, Ms Naomi Quarshie inspected electricity installations and other electrical appliances being used at the market.

Ms Quarshie and her team also advised to switch off all their electrical appliances before leaving for home, and cautioned food sellers to ensure that they put off their fires before leaving for home.

The Fire Commander urged the women to engage competent electricians to fix their electricity installations to avert fire out breaks and urged them to acquire fire extinguishers.

SAFTEY EDUCATION

Later in an interview with the Daily Graphic, she said the safety education forms part of the proactive approaches adopted to prevent fires and added that apart from the markets, the District Office has also targeted house-to-house, public and radio education campaigns to sensitise inhabitant of the areas.

She disclosed that the station has already recorded 14 fire incidents within the first quarter of the year compared to 12 cases recorded within the same period last year and emphasized that the public education campaign was very timely as domestic fires continue to destroy lives and properties.

She noted that activities of fisher folks contribute largely to fire outbreaks, and warned traders against the improper storage of premix fuel and the illegal connection of electrical wires in the markets in access for power supply.

           

“We are here to protect lives and properties hence this activity. Some fisher folks here keep premix fuel in their homes or shops and this can cause fire when the fuel is exposed to naked fires. Some women also cook in the market and either forget or refuse to put out the fire. This can cause fire especially at night when no one is around to put it out at the initial stages”, she said.

ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS

DOIII appealed to the residents to engage the services of professional electricians to handle electrical connections in their homes and markets.

She noted that as part of strategic measures in firefighting, prevention and control in the market, personnel will be deployed at night to patrol and ensure that fires are completely put off before the traders leave the market.

She added that fisher folks, will also taken educated on Tuesdays, which is a rest day for fishing on how to prevent fire through proper handling of premix fuels.

Support aolescent reproductive health education. Health Service provider tells parents

Daily Graphic, Tuesday, April 18, 2017

“My interest in sex started at a tender age of 10 years when l chanced on three boys having sex in turns with an equally young girl. I was forced by them to have a taste of the act. I enjoyed the experience and continued to explore with girls who were far older than me.”

“I had my first sex at the age of 13years but did not discharge into the girl as l was afraid. I currently have two girlfriends, I have regular sex with one and only engage in kissing and caressing with the other.”

These are experiences shared by two young adolescents shared with Adolescent Health service providers in Tema as recounted by the Focal person for Adolescent Health, Tema Metropolitan Health Directorate, Mrs. Grace Eddy Amewu.

Mrs Amewu making a presentation to the Assembly Members of  TMA

PRESENTATION

In a presentation to the Assembly Members of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly, (TMA) at its sitting last Wednesday, Mrs Amewu said such cases come to them frequently and though they are making efforts to help the children come out of them, more is expected of parents to help curb the problem.

She indicated that parents have a bigger role to educate their wards and promote the sexual and reproductive health of their adolescent children and urged them  to open up to their children.

She said due to the inability and unwillingness of parents to discuss Sexual Reproductive Health matters with their wards, these young ones are pushed to explore and experiment as a means of finding answers to their questions.

STATISTICS

Giving a statistics on Adolescent Teenage Pregnancy for 2016 for persons between the ages 10-19, the Tema Focal person for Adolescent Health disclosed that Tema East Constituency had more teenage pregnancies with 313 cases in the Metropolis while Tema West and Central Constituencies 106 and  294 cases respectively.

She said the Tema East cases it could be due to poor standards of living in that community and urged the Assembly Members to collaborate with adolescent health service providers to extend adolescent health services into the communities.

DEATHS

In the area of Maternal Health, Mrs Amewu disclosed that the Adolescents
and young people were also not being left out.

She disclosed that in 2014 out of the total of 35 death recorded four representing 11 percent involved persons within the ages of 20-24 years. In the year 2015, out of the 46 cases recorded, 12 cases representing 26 percent involving persons of ages 20-24 while in 2016,  out of the 49 cases recorded, 15 cases representing 31 percent of persons within that same age bracket was recorded.

Mrs. Amewu further disclosed that two cases each was recorded in 2015 and 2016 involving persons with the age group of 10-19 years.

the Assembly Members of  TMA listening to the presentation

She said while most adolescent found it difficult to talk to their parents and guardians, they had confidence in talking to health workers since they are willing listeners and not condemnatory and therefore pleaded with the TMA and Assembly Members to provide the Adolescent Health Service Providers with facilities within their communities to host health and communication centers to provide counseling, screening and testing services as well as distribution of social behavioral communication materials and condoms to the youth

The Presiding Member of TMA, Mr Richard Fiadumor pledged the commitment of the assembly to help address the issues and save the lives of the youth in the metropolis

TEMA FIRE SERVICE MAKES STRIDES

By Benjamin Xornam Glover, TEMA

The Tema Office of the Ghana National Fire Service, (GNFS) recorded 112 fire outbreaks in the first quarter of 2017 as compared to 150 recorded within the same period last year, which is a 25.3 per cent reduction.

The Regional Commander of the GNFS, Assistant Chief Fire Officer, (ACFO), Ms Frances Rockson attributed the strides made to intensified public education on basic fire safety tips by the service.

ACFO  Rockson in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Tema revealed that her outfit in collaboration with other stakeholders including the Metropolitan Assembly, Traders, and Ghana Police Service have been organising a series of public campaigns to educate the general public on basic fire safety tips.

MARKET FIRES

In the era of recent incidents of fire outbreaks in major markets across the country, the Tema Community One market, the major market in the Metropolis,  is yet to record any major market fire incident and this the Regional Fire Commander said was due intensive patrols of the market.

She said to protect this enviable record,  Market Patrol Teams have been formed to regularly patrol all major markets within the Tema area and beyond to avert any unfortunate incidents and the attendant destruction of wares and goods in the markets.

Ms Rockson said the GNFS would collaborate with the Tema Metropolitan Assembly and the Market Queens on this to educate traders in the markets for them to adhere strictly to safety practices in the various markets

She also spoke of the need for rigid enforcement of bye-laws on fire prevention passed by the TMA stressing that District Commanders of the GNFS have been tasked to liaise with their respective Assemblies to put in place and enforce by-laws that prohibits indiscriminate use of naked flames in the markets.

COLLABORATION

The Regional Fire Commander said the District Commanders have also been tasked to help the market authorities to designate specific areas for cooking and heating and also clear allays in the markets for easy access to the markets by Fire Tenders in case of emergencies.

Ms Rockson said an audit of fire hydrants meant to serve as water sources to fight fire in the metropolis revealed that a number of them have been encroached on by illegal structures while others have been sealed by the Ghana Water Company.

She said the GNFS working with the Assembly and the Ghana Water Company to ensure that the hydrants are functional especially in and around the markets to aid in fire fighting.

ACFO Rockson said her outfit has also initiated an education campaign to ensure that peoples home and their families as well as business and are prepared in the event of a fire.

She said the focus is to highlight the importance of fire prevention throughout the year with the view to reducing fire-related deaths, injuries, and damages.

RESCUE

ACFO Rockson said the GNFS is also responsible for the rescue and evacuation of victims from all forms of accidents to safety and as a region that has the Motorway and other highways running through its jurisdiction, rescue squads have been formed to ensure the quick extrication of road crash victims.

She mentioned the Tema-Accra Motorway, Tema-Ada Highway, Afienya-Akosombo Highway and Accra-Dodowa-Somanya Road as some of the highways in focus.

ACFO Rockson said the Command is also liaising with Assembly members and Opinion leaders along those routes  to train Community Rescue Volunteers on the proper and scientific way to extricate road crash victims on all the accident the prone roads in the Tema area.

This, she explained is to ensure that in the event of road crashes along these routes, the public does not end up aggravating the conditions of the victims.

EXPANSION

The Regional Fire Commander said as a region, the GNFS has identified the time lag between when they receive emergency calls and the time they arrive at emergency scenes on the Tema – Ada road and as a measure to stem the tide, the Command is in consultation with the Ada West District Assembly to establish a new Fire Station at Sege to reduce the response time in those area.

A similar move, she indicated is being explored for the establishment of a Fire Station on the Spintex Road which houses many homes and industries, stressing that when this is done, many more lives and properties will be saved in the event of fires and road crashes.

INDUSTRIAL FIRES

Tema is home to many industries and thus very prone to fire incidents. It would be recalled that on February 25 this year, twelve fuel tankers went up in flames when fire engulfed a tanker yard near the Ashaiman Timber Market.

 

Also on January 25, 3017 three trucks containing fuel got burnt after a tanker exploded at Kpone, near Tema. In both instances, no casualty was recorded following the swift intervention by personnel of the GNFS to bring the inferno under control.

In order to prevent fire outbreaks and in line with the  Fire Precaution (Premises) Regulations, L.I. 1724, the Command in March this year embarked on a number of  industrial visit to inspect fire safety certificate.

During the visit, premises which were operating without a fire safety certificates had their premises locked up and asked to cease operations until they acquire the necessary certificate.

END