FINANCIAL institutions have been urged to support the efforts of the Central Bank in educating the public on the use of financial products, such as the e-zwich to inject more dynamism in the country’s financial sector.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Tarkwa-Nsuaem in the Western Region, Ms Gifty E. Kusi, who made the call, said there was the need for all financial institutions to ensure that the use of biometrics technology (e-zwich) launched recently by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) covered every aspect of their operations.
The MP was speaking at the launch of the Tarkwa branch of Stanbic Bank Ghana.
She said aside of the BoG’s moves to make banking easy for the public, it was important for financial institutions in the country also to design products that would complement the efforts of the Central Bank.
Ms Kusi said apart from the educated few, there were many illiterate or semi-literate people in the society, so it was the duty of the financial sector to take this into consideration when designing products.
“Concerted efforts must be made to reverse the declining trends in the level of savings, as more than 75 per cent of total currency issued by the BoG is outside the banking sector,” the MP stated, adding that the situation did not augur well for the country.
She said it was not good that a large pool of funds was circulating outside the formal financial system and added that there should be more innovative products such as the e-zwich to avoid people continuing to keep their incomes under their beds and metal boxes or burying it underground.
Ms Kusi said during fire outbreaks in the various markets recently, many market women lost a chunk of their capital through the disaster and reiterated her call on financial institutions to consider the informal sector when designing products for the public.
“There are many benefits in saving money at the banks to ensure that in case of any disaster, people would not lose everything,” Ms Kusi emphasised.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
VULNERABLE NEED PROTECTION (PAGE 29)
LUNATICS and the destitute are the most vulnerable in every society and it is the duty of governments, religious and other civic groups and the society in general to give them protection.
The destitute are kept in rehabilitation centres or homes and those who have lost their memories are taken to psychiatric homes for proper care.
The absence of these centres to cater for the numerous destitute and lunatics in the twin-City of Sekondi -Takoradi has seen an increase in the number of the vulnerable in the society on the streets.
The sad aspect is that some of the lunatics walk straight to food vendors to demand food from them.
They are found at street corners with their dirty and worn out cloths and empty cans as their drinking cups and plates for food.
While some keep their surroundings clean, others litter everywhere they find themselves.
The metropolis headed by Mr Philip Kwesi Nkrumah, is one of the best places one could be.
But at every corner one goes in the metropolis he or she finds one or two lunatics either sleeping or acting in a way that could best be described as dangerous to members of the society.
Before the kick off of the Africa Cup of Nations, Ghana 2008, the then Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly (SAEMA) now the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) gave a promise to keep the lunatics off the streets, but nothing has been done about it.
The lunatics and destitute use abandoned buildings or street corners in the metropolis as their places of abode. Some of them find classrooms and school compounds comfortable after school hours especially during rainy days.
The situation is getting out of hand as such something must be done to keep the lunatics and destitute off the streets since a lot of attention is currently on the twin-city which is a tourism destination.
It is unfair that as efforts are being made to develop more tourism sites, lunatics are turning themselves into negative tourist attractions .
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the STMA, Mr John Laste, said the situation had come to the notice of the assembly.
“Our plan is to relocate the vulnerable and the destitute. The assembly is seriously working around the clock to create a reception centre for them at a place near Shama,” he said.
He said one of the sad and serious aspects of the situation was whereas the assembly was ready to help it had difficulty locating their families.
“That is not to say that we cannot pick them from the street, screen them and send them to psychiatric homes, our only problem is that, when these our unfortunate brothers and sisters are sent to those homes and are cured, the final advice the doctors give is that they should be engaged in order not to relax their minds,” he said.
“But I can tell you on authority that before the Ghana 2008 tournament started we took some lunatic to the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital in the Central Region, some were cured, and the families located, but they were rejected few days later and had to go back to the streets of the metropolis,” he said.
Asked if they had been able to find out how those lunatics made their way to the metropolis, he said: “I don’t have empirical evidence to support what I will say, but the issue is that some travel by foot after they had escaped from Ankaful, this is because there are some here that we sent there but they are back in the metropolis.
“That is not to say that we have given up on them, we are still deliberating on how to keep them off the street and at our meetings they feature prominently,” Mr Laste stressed.
With the plight of the destitute, religious groups should be guided by the natural laws that speak of our duty to protect the vulnerable in the society. This duty takes precedence even over our religious practices.
It is the hope of the writer that as they wait for the help from the assembly, help would come from the religious groups in and outside the metropolis.
The destitute are kept in rehabilitation centres or homes and those who have lost their memories are taken to psychiatric homes for proper care.
The absence of these centres to cater for the numerous destitute and lunatics in the twin-City of Sekondi -Takoradi has seen an increase in the number of the vulnerable in the society on the streets.
The sad aspect is that some of the lunatics walk straight to food vendors to demand food from them.
They are found at street corners with their dirty and worn out cloths and empty cans as their drinking cups and plates for food.
While some keep their surroundings clean, others litter everywhere they find themselves.
The metropolis headed by Mr Philip Kwesi Nkrumah, is one of the best places one could be.
But at every corner one goes in the metropolis he or she finds one or two lunatics either sleeping or acting in a way that could best be described as dangerous to members of the society.
Before the kick off of the Africa Cup of Nations, Ghana 2008, the then Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly (SAEMA) now the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) gave a promise to keep the lunatics off the streets, but nothing has been done about it.
The lunatics and destitute use abandoned buildings or street corners in the metropolis as their places of abode. Some of them find classrooms and school compounds comfortable after school hours especially during rainy days.
The situation is getting out of hand as such something must be done to keep the lunatics and destitute off the streets since a lot of attention is currently on the twin-city which is a tourism destination.
It is unfair that as efforts are being made to develop more tourism sites, lunatics are turning themselves into negative tourist attractions .
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the STMA, Mr John Laste, said the situation had come to the notice of the assembly.
“Our plan is to relocate the vulnerable and the destitute. The assembly is seriously working around the clock to create a reception centre for them at a place near Shama,” he said.
He said one of the sad and serious aspects of the situation was whereas the assembly was ready to help it had difficulty locating their families.
“That is not to say that we cannot pick them from the street, screen them and send them to psychiatric homes, our only problem is that, when these our unfortunate brothers and sisters are sent to those homes and are cured, the final advice the doctors give is that they should be engaged in order not to relax their minds,” he said.
“But I can tell you on authority that before the Ghana 2008 tournament started we took some lunatic to the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital in the Central Region, some were cured, and the families located, but they were rejected few days later and had to go back to the streets of the metropolis,” he said.
Asked if they had been able to find out how those lunatics made their way to the metropolis, he said: “I don’t have empirical evidence to support what I will say, but the issue is that some travel by foot after they had escaped from Ankaful, this is because there are some here that we sent there but they are back in the metropolis.
“That is not to say that we have given up on them, we are still deliberating on how to keep them off the street and at our meetings they feature prominently,” Mr Laste stressed.
With the plight of the destitute, religious groups should be guided by the natural laws that speak of our duty to protect the vulnerable in the society. This duty takes precedence even over our religious practices.
It is the hope of the writer that as they wait for the help from the assembly, help would come from the religious groups in and outside the metropolis.
ECG REPLACES OLD METERS (PAGE 29)
THE Western Regional office of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is replacing the existing meters in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis with a more advanced electro-cash prepaid meters.
This new system is not going down well with the public, since it has a means of checking waste in the system by ensuring the demand side management mechanism to place the consumers in control of their daily consumption.
According to the Regional Public Relations Officer of ECG, Mr Adjei Larbi, the new meter would guarantee a more efficient usage of power by customers.
He explained that with the demand side management side of the new meter, it would be very difficult for anybody to cheat the system.
“Mostly, what happens with the old meter is that people try cheating the system by connecting power from the load side, thereby diverting energy that should have passed through the meter. But with the new meter, there is a censoring mechanism that once the customer tampers with the power on the load side it will cut supply to the said customer automatically,” he said.
The interesting part when operating the new meter, he said, was that apart from the officials of the ECG, no other person could touch it. “Therefore if the customer tries to cheat the system, supply will cut until he or she reports to our office for the situation to be rectified.”
Mr Larbi said there was a lot of waste in the system, and therefore, if customers were in control and decided when and how to switch their power on and off it would prolong their credit.
The PRO said the exercise would take about nine months to complete in Takoradi from where they would move to other parts of the metropolis.
He said one of the difficulties they faced in their quest to change the meters was public support.
“We have been serving them with the old meter for so long and it is just fair that when we are going to switch to a more advanced technology, we prompt our customers through various public forums, but only a few people attended those forums we organised for them,” he said.
“I must say that with that we are very disappointed because, before we organised the forums we went round, educated our customers and gathered information on when it would be appropriate for the forums to be held and we organised the forums based on the feedback we got from the field but the patronage was very poor,” he said.
He said even though patronage was low the regional office had set up customer care desks at the office for those who were having difficulties with their meters and that had so far proved to be helping greatly.
Mr Larbi urged the customers to take their time to acquaint themselves with the features on the device.
“It prompts you when you need to recharge, how much money you have left in Ghana Cedis and how many days you have, therefore, you are in total control of your own consumption.”
“On the meter, if the display shows 25 then you have a balance of GH¢2.50 and the days are estimated in hours and calculated from the customer’s average consumption over a 24-hour period using the tariff applicable at the point of consumption,” he said.
That aside, he said, the new meter would also avert the problems landlords faced with their tenants over unpaid electricity bills, “because, with the new device, there is no disconnection, no estimated bills, and tenants will not move out leaving behind unpaid bills.
“Finally, I will like to advice those whose meters have not yet been changed to settle their bills because there will be a final reading at the point of change and programmed into the system and if that amount is not settled, there is no way the vending machine will accept the customer’s smart loading card,” he advised.
This new system is not going down well with the public, since it has a means of checking waste in the system by ensuring the demand side management mechanism to place the consumers in control of their daily consumption.
According to the Regional Public Relations Officer of ECG, Mr Adjei Larbi, the new meter would guarantee a more efficient usage of power by customers.
He explained that with the demand side management side of the new meter, it would be very difficult for anybody to cheat the system.
“Mostly, what happens with the old meter is that people try cheating the system by connecting power from the load side, thereby diverting energy that should have passed through the meter. But with the new meter, there is a censoring mechanism that once the customer tampers with the power on the load side it will cut supply to the said customer automatically,” he said.
The interesting part when operating the new meter, he said, was that apart from the officials of the ECG, no other person could touch it. “Therefore if the customer tries to cheat the system, supply will cut until he or she reports to our office for the situation to be rectified.”
Mr Larbi said there was a lot of waste in the system, and therefore, if customers were in control and decided when and how to switch their power on and off it would prolong their credit.
The PRO said the exercise would take about nine months to complete in Takoradi from where they would move to other parts of the metropolis.
He said one of the difficulties they faced in their quest to change the meters was public support.
“We have been serving them with the old meter for so long and it is just fair that when we are going to switch to a more advanced technology, we prompt our customers through various public forums, but only a few people attended those forums we organised for them,” he said.
“I must say that with that we are very disappointed because, before we organised the forums we went round, educated our customers and gathered information on when it would be appropriate for the forums to be held and we organised the forums based on the feedback we got from the field but the patronage was very poor,” he said.
He said even though patronage was low the regional office had set up customer care desks at the office for those who were having difficulties with their meters and that had so far proved to be helping greatly.
Mr Larbi urged the customers to take their time to acquaint themselves with the features on the device.
“It prompts you when you need to recharge, how much money you have left in Ghana Cedis and how many days you have, therefore, you are in total control of your own consumption.”
“On the meter, if the display shows 25 then you have a balance of GH¢2.50 and the days are estimated in hours and calculated from the customer’s average consumption over a 24-hour period using the tariff applicable at the point of consumption,” he said.
That aside, he said, the new meter would also avert the problems landlords faced with their tenants over unpaid electricity bills, “because, with the new device, there is no disconnection, no estimated bills, and tenants will not move out leaving behind unpaid bills.
“Finally, I will like to advice those whose meters have not yet been changed to settle their bills because there will be a final reading at the point of change and programmed into the system and if that amount is not settled, there is no way the vending machine will accept the customer’s smart loading card,” he advised.
DVLA DESCENDS ON DRIVING SCHOOLS (PAGE 29)
THE Western Regional Office of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Division (DVLA) is preparing to clamp down on all driving schools operating in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis which have not regularised their operations.
According to the officials, none of the schools have registered with the DVLA as required by law.
The Regional Manager, Reverend Oduro Twum, said even the manner in which motorists drive in the metropolis was evident that everything was wrong with the system.
He said under normal circumstances, driving schools were supposed to provide the perfect platform for new learners to be abreast of all regulations to avert the chaos on the roads but rather the opposite prevailed.
“We don’t want to be harsh on the schools, therefore, we invite them and caution them to regularise their operation and ensure that the right things are done,” he said.
Driving schools play very important roles in the education of the public on what pertains on the roads. You will be driving in the metropolis especially at roundabouts, and a vehicle outside the roundabout will enter it with speed and expect that the one in the roundabout stopped for him or her,” he said.
That aside, he said, on the dual carriage roads “it is interesting to see both commercial and private vehicles driving slowly in the speed lane and one is sometimes forced to overtake them in the wrong lane.”
The regional DVLA boss said sometimes owners of the driving schools came to the authority’s offices to ask for learners which under normal circumstances, was not proper.
A proper driving school should have vehicles with dual pedal system, at least two trained instructors, spacious classroom for more than 30 learners, registered with DVLA, enough learning materials, engine parts and their identifiable location,” he said.
“We insist that they should register with us so that we can visit them from time to time and bring them to order when they are going wrong and also to have access to them when we have training programmes for them.”
He, therefore, used the opportunity to advise the public to patronise the services of certified driving schools to ensure that they did not only get their money’s worth but also became responsible and defensive drivers.
According to the officials, none of the schools have registered with the DVLA as required by law.
The Regional Manager, Reverend Oduro Twum, said even the manner in which motorists drive in the metropolis was evident that everything was wrong with the system.
He said under normal circumstances, driving schools were supposed to provide the perfect platform for new learners to be abreast of all regulations to avert the chaos on the roads but rather the opposite prevailed.
“We don’t want to be harsh on the schools, therefore, we invite them and caution them to regularise their operation and ensure that the right things are done,” he said.
Driving schools play very important roles in the education of the public on what pertains on the roads. You will be driving in the metropolis especially at roundabouts, and a vehicle outside the roundabout will enter it with speed and expect that the one in the roundabout stopped for him or her,” he said.
That aside, he said, on the dual carriage roads “it is interesting to see both commercial and private vehicles driving slowly in the speed lane and one is sometimes forced to overtake them in the wrong lane.”
The regional DVLA boss said sometimes owners of the driving schools came to the authority’s offices to ask for learners which under normal circumstances, was not proper.
A proper driving school should have vehicles with dual pedal system, at least two trained instructors, spacious classroom for more than 30 learners, registered with DVLA, enough learning materials, engine parts and their identifiable location,” he said.
“We insist that they should register with us so that we can visit them from time to time and bring them to order when they are going wrong and also to have access to them when we have training programmes for them.”
He, therefore, used the opportunity to advise the public to patronise the services of certified driving schools to ensure that they did not only get their money’s worth but also became responsible and defensive drivers.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
SHAMA NPP SUPPORTERS PROTEST AGAINST MP (PAGE 17)
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Shama
Supporters of the New Patriotic Party in the Shama Constituency yesterday took to the streets of Shama, the newly created district in the Western Region, to protest against what they called the imposition of the incumbent Member of Parliament, Madam Angelina Baiden-Amissah, on them.
This followed the disqualification of one of the candidates, Mr Samuel Erickson Abaka, whom the constituents preferred. The demonstrators marched through Shama, Abuasi and other communities in the district for more than four hours.
Mr Abaka presented himself for vetting but was disqualified on the ground of presenting fake membership card to the vetting committee.
They accused the incumbent of bulldozing her way to the top, disregarding the constituency executive to the extent of campaigning long before she was vetted or endorsed by the constituency executive.
The supporters said if the party failed to reverse the proclamation of the incumbent MP, they would encourage Mr Abaka to go solo and if he refused that, they would help vote the opposition to power come December 2008.
In a petition presented to the national executive of the party by the leader of the demonstrators, Mr S.K. Arthur Fosu, through the District Chief Executive, Mr Joseph Amoah, said, “We the undersigned are all NPP polling station Chairmen and Executive members of the Shama Constituency and we have been told about the secret and unconstitutional acclamation of the incumbent as a candidate for the constituency”.
The DCE, appealing to them to be calm, promised to take the issue up to the highest level of the party and communicate the outcome to them shortly.
Mr Arthur Fosu told the Daily Graphic later that party officials did not show them any respect and that he did not understand why the constituency executive members were treated with such contempt.
“We are on the ground and we know who the people are looking for and the era of imposing candidates on constituents are over and even then, it is done with after-effects in mind,” he said.
However, Lawyer Abaka’s camp said they were not aware of what was happening at Shama and that they should not be linked to it.
They said the people of the constituency were defending what was right for them.
When contacted, the Regional Chairman, Nana Owusu-Ankomah, said it was a fact that Mr Abaka was disqualified when he failed to meet the requirement.
“He presented a fake membership card, which was signed by Nana Ohene Ntow at the time when he (Nana Ohene Ntow) was not the General Secretary of the party,” he said.
Nana Owusu-Ankomah said the vetting committee explained to Mr Abaka that his action was fraudulent and constituted criminal offence and that even his standing in the constituency was questionable.
“As far as the party is Concerned, vetting leading to the selection of the candidate for the Shama constituency is over, and Madam Baiden-Amissah has been selected to partner Nana Akuffo-Addo, the presidential candidate for the NPP, to retain the party in power come December 2008,” he said.
He, however, called on the members to follow the necessary channels to ensure that the image of the party was not tarnished.
Supporters of the New Patriotic Party in the Shama Constituency yesterday took to the streets of Shama, the newly created district in the Western Region, to protest against what they called the imposition of the incumbent Member of Parliament, Madam Angelina Baiden-Amissah, on them.
This followed the disqualification of one of the candidates, Mr Samuel Erickson Abaka, whom the constituents preferred. The demonstrators marched through Shama, Abuasi and other communities in the district for more than four hours.
Mr Abaka presented himself for vetting but was disqualified on the ground of presenting fake membership card to the vetting committee.
They accused the incumbent of bulldozing her way to the top, disregarding the constituency executive to the extent of campaigning long before she was vetted or endorsed by the constituency executive.
The supporters said if the party failed to reverse the proclamation of the incumbent MP, they would encourage Mr Abaka to go solo and if he refused that, they would help vote the opposition to power come December 2008.
In a petition presented to the national executive of the party by the leader of the demonstrators, Mr S.K. Arthur Fosu, through the District Chief Executive, Mr Joseph Amoah, said, “We the undersigned are all NPP polling station Chairmen and Executive members of the Shama Constituency and we have been told about the secret and unconstitutional acclamation of the incumbent as a candidate for the constituency”.
The DCE, appealing to them to be calm, promised to take the issue up to the highest level of the party and communicate the outcome to them shortly.
Mr Arthur Fosu told the Daily Graphic later that party officials did not show them any respect and that he did not understand why the constituency executive members were treated with such contempt.
“We are on the ground and we know who the people are looking for and the era of imposing candidates on constituents are over and even then, it is done with after-effects in mind,” he said.
However, Lawyer Abaka’s camp said they were not aware of what was happening at Shama and that they should not be linked to it.
They said the people of the constituency were defending what was right for them.
When contacted, the Regional Chairman, Nana Owusu-Ankomah, said it was a fact that Mr Abaka was disqualified when he failed to meet the requirement.
“He presented a fake membership card, which was signed by Nana Ohene Ntow at the time when he (Nana Ohene Ntow) was not the General Secretary of the party,” he said.
Nana Owusu-Ankomah said the vetting committee explained to Mr Abaka that his action was fraudulent and constituted criminal offence and that even his standing in the constituency was questionable.
“As far as the party is Concerned, vetting leading to the selection of the candidate for the Shama constituency is over, and Madam Baiden-Amissah has been selected to partner Nana Akuffo-Addo, the presidential candidate for the NPP, to retain the party in power come December 2008,” he said.
He, however, called on the members to follow the necessary channels to ensure that the image of the party was not tarnished.
TWO EX-CONVICTS CAUGHT STEALING SHEEP (BACK PAGE)
Picture & Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi
Two ex-convicts who just came out of jail for stealing 200 cattle in the Nzema East District are back in police grip for another stealing offence.
They were arrested in the early hours of yesterday with four stolen sheep in a taxicab en-route to the Esiama market.
The suspects — Francis Kwame, 39, and Kwamena Issa, 24 — told the police that they stole the sheep after their attempt to rob the stores of Adamus Resources, a new mining company in the district, had failed.
They said they were unable to rob the company due to the high security measures in place, so they decided to move to the nearby communities to steal some animals to sell.
They managed to get four sheep and on their way to the Esiama market, the police, acting on a tip-off, intercepted and arrested them.
When contacted, the acting District Police Commander for Axim, DSP Peter Ndekugrie, said the two contacted a taxi driver to help them execute “a moving business” in the early hours of yesterday.
He said the said taxi driver, who happens to be a friend of the police, approached them for advice.
“We then went to plead with the owner of the taxicab to allow his driver to undertake the contract under police protection,” he said.
He said the arrangement went on as scheduled and at about 10 p.m. the police officers in plain clothes followed the taxi to Adamus Resources.
DSP Ndekugrie, who is also the Mobile Force Commander, said after the foiled attempt at Adamus Resources, Issa and Kwame took the taxi driver to Axim, where they got down and returned with four sheep.
He said the police, who were then tracking the taxi, gave them a chase and upon realising danger, Issa and Kwame started throwing the animals out of the moving vehicle.
The unit commander said the police team managed to overtake them and arrested them. He commended the taxi driver and asked others to learn from him.
Two ex-convicts who just came out of jail for stealing 200 cattle in the Nzema East District are back in police grip for another stealing offence.
They were arrested in the early hours of yesterday with four stolen sheep in a taxicab en-route to the Esiama market.
The suspects — Francis Kwame, 39, and Kwamena Issa, 24 — told the police that they stole the sheep after their attempt to rob the stores of Adamus Resources, a new mining company in the district, had failed.
They said they were unable to rob the company due to the high security measures in place, so they decided to move to the nearby communities to steal some animals to sell.
They managed to get four sheep and on their way to the Esiama market, the police, acting on a tip-off, intercepted and arrested them.
When contacted, the acting District Police Commander for Axim, DSP Peter Ndekugrie, said the two contacted a taxi driver to help them execute “a moving business” in the early hours of yesterday.
He said the said taxi driver, who happens to be a friend of the police, approached them for advice.
“We then went to plead with the owner of the taxicab to allow his driver to undertake the contract under police protection,” he said.
He said the arrangement went on as scheduled and at about 10 p.m. the police officers in plain clothes followed the taxi to Adamus Resources.
DSP Ndekugrie, who is also the Mobile Force Commander, said after the foiled attempt at Adamus Resources, Issa and Kwame took the taxi driver to Axim, where they got down and returned with four sheep.
He said the police, who were then tracking the taxi, gave them a chase and upon realising danger, Issa and Kwame started throwing the animals out of the moving vehicle.
The unit commander said the police team managed to overtake them and arrested them. He commended the taxi driver and asked others to learn from him.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
PUBLIC INTRUSION THWARTS RESCUE MISSIONS IN SEKONDI/TAKORADI (PAGE 29)
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Takoradi
RESCUE service providers in the Western Region, especially in the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Area (STMA), have expressed dissatisfaction at the intrusion of the public in their operations.
They complained about the obstruction of roads by onlookers during emergency situations, such as fire outbreaks and vehicular accidents.
Those who suffer most from this public intrusion are the Ghana National Fire Service, the Ambulance Service and the police.
It is a fact that during fire outbreaks, road traffic and other domestic accidents adrenalin run high; everybody wants to catch a glimpse of what is going on.
Normally, every country has emergency telephone lines to get in touch with rescue service providers in the event of fire outbreaks, accidents and other emergencies.
In Ghana, for instance, the emergency line for the Ghana Police Service is 191; the Ghana Fire and Rescue Service, 192, and 193 for the Ambulance Service.
If a distressed caller dials 191 to announce a road accident or fire outbreak, the police are supposed to move in to secure the crime scene to ensure that nobody tampers with the evidence and for the fire and ambulance services to do their work without any obstruction.
But during fire outbreaks or road traffic or even domestic accidents in the metropolis and other parts of the country, members of the public besiege the crime scene, making it difficult for the rescuers to conduct thorough investigations.
A typical example was when fire broke out on the Liberation Road in Takoradi on Monday. The crowd blocked the access route to where the fire was raging, making it difficult for the fire service personnel to move their vehicles freely.
At a point, some people stood on the hoses that were to supply water from the tenders to the source of the fire. This did not only frustrate the efforts of the fire fighters but also delayed the fire fighting and rescue operations.
The same could be said of similar fire outbreaks at the Takoradi Central Market more than a year ago and also recently at the Apremdu markets, Kumasi, Accra, among other places and towns.
During such situations, fire fighters at a point away had to plead with the people to move from the hoses to allow for the free flow of water to fight the fires. It was clear during last Monday’s fire outbreak on the Liberation Road that even though the police, the fire and ambulance services were up to the task, there was no co-ordination among them.
The police were at the scene, combat ready with AK47 riffles and positioned themselves far away from the fire scene. One expected the police to be able to control the crowd by any means necessary to ensure that nobody trespassed the restricted area to either distort evidence or frustrate the rescue operations.
There should be effective co-ordination between the fire, police and the ambulance services. The first thing the police should do is to secure the scene of the disaster as a first step for other rescue service providers and investigators to move in.
But interestingly, the police officers distance themselves from the scene of the accident or fire.
Fire fighters have to be shouting “give way, give way, and give way” in order to clear the intruding public to enable them do their work.
It is worrying to say that, the story at the scene on the liberation road pertains in every part of the country. It is important to remind the police that despite the fact that they are under resourced, it is their responsibility to block the roads to allow for free movement in emergency situations.
The fact is that if the basic containment is wrong, the rescue mission will not achieve any meaningful results.
To the experts, it was the duty of the police to prevent the general public, be it the residents, owners of properties engulfed in fire, occupants, relatives, transients, spectators, even at a point, news men from the scene, since they tend to hamper the operations.
In situations like that they said, tact and courtesy must be deployed to keep them safe and away from harm or obstructing fire operations. It was rather sad to see the chief operations officer of the fire service in Takoradi,Mr Joseph Tameklo, acting as the commander of his squad and at the same time controlling the crowd.
He told the Daily Graphic after about 45 minutes of fighting fire that it was important to keep fire areas clear for fire fighting purposes since the equipment such as emergency, service and fire-fighting vehicles must have enough room to park, operate within, turn around, and even lay hoses for fire-fighting operations, among others.
Mr Tameklo said that was also to protect the equipment of the fire service and keep all ‘non-firefighters’ away.
Interestingly while the raging fire was being controlled media practitioners were calling the officers, who were busy to grant them interviews, when it was clear that the circumstance would not permit them to do so.
It is, therefore, very important that these essential units in the social life of the country work together to ensure that there is harmony in their service delivery so that during situations such as happened at the Liberation Road and other parts of the country the situation would be brought under control.
RESCUE service providers in the Western Region, especially in the Sekondi/Takoradi Metropolitan Area (STMA), have expressed dissatisfaction at the intrusion of the public in their operations.
They complained about the obstruction of roads by onlookers during emergency situations, such as fire outbreaks and vehicular accidents.
Those who suffer most from this public intrusion are the Ghana National Fire Service, the Ambulance Service and the police.
It is a fact that during fire outbreaks, road traffic and other domestic accidents adrenalin run high; everybody wants to catch a glimpse of what is going on.
Normally, every country has emergency telephone lines to get in touch with rescue service providers in the event of fire outbreaks, accidents and other emergencies.
In Ghana, for instance, the emergency line for the Ghana Police Service is 191; the Ghana Fire and Rescue Service, 192, and 193 for the Ambulance Service.
If a distressed caller dials 191 to announce a road accident or fire outbreak, the police are supposed to move in to secure the crime scene to ensure that nobody tampers with the evidence and for the fire and ambulance services to do their work without any obstruction.
But during fire outbreaks or road traffic or even domestic accidents in the metropolis and other parts of the country, members of the public besiege the crime scene, making it difficult for the rescuers to conduct thorough investigations.
A typical example was when fire broke out on the Liberation Road in Takoradi on Monday. The crowd blocked the access route to where the fire was raging, making it difficult for the fire service personnel to move their vehicles freely.
At a point, some people stood on the hoses that were to supply water from the tenders to the source of the fire. This did not only frustrate the efforts of the fire fighters but also delayed the fire fighting and rescue operations.
The same could be said of similar fire outbreaks at the Takoradi Central Market more than a year ago and also recently at the Apremdu markets, Kumasi, Accra, among other places and towns.
During such situations, fire fighters at a point away had to plead with the people to move from the hoses to allow for the free flow of water to fight the fires. It was clear during last Monday’s fire outbreak on the Liberation Road that even though the police, the fire and ambulance services were up to the task, there was no co-ordination among them.
The police were at the scene, combat ready with AK47 riffles and positioned themselves far away from the fire scene. One expected the police to be able to control the crowd by any means necessary to ensure that nobody trespassed the restricted area to either distort evidence or frustrate the rescue operations.
There should be effective co-ordination between the fire, police and the ambulance services. The first thing the police should do is to secure the scene of the disaster as a first step for other rescue service providers and investigators to move in.
But interestingly, the police officers distance themselves from the scene of the accident or fire.
Fire fighters have to be shouting “give way, give way, and give way” in order to clear the intruding public to enable them do their work.
It is worrying to say that, the story at the scene on the liberation road pertains in every part of the country. It is important to remind the police that despite the fact that they are under resourced, it is their responsibility to block the roads to allow for free movement in emergency situations.
The fact is that if the basic containment is wrong, the rescue mission will not achieve any meaningful results.
To the experts, it was the duty of the police to prevent the general public, be it the residents, owners of properties engulfed in fire, occupants, relatives, transients, spectators, even at a point, news men from the scene, since they tend to hamper the operations.
In situations like that they said, tact and courtesy must be deployed to keep them safe and away from harm or obstructing fire operations. It was rather sad to see the chief operations officer of the fire service in Takoradi,Mr Joseph Tameklo, acting as the commander of his squad and at the same time controlling the crowd.
He told the Daily Graphic after about 45 minutes of fighting fire that it was important to keep fire areas clear for fire fighting purposes since the equipment such as emergency, service and fire-fighting vehicles must have enough room to park, operate within, turn around, and even lay hoses for fire-fighting operations, among others.
Mr Tameklo said that was also to protect the equipment of the fire service and keep all ‘non-firefighters’ away.
Interestingly while the raging fire was being controlled media practitioners were calling the officers, who were busy to grant them interviews, when it was clear that the circumstance would not permit them to do so.
It is, therefore, very important that these essential units in the social life of the country work together to ensure that there is harmony in their service delivery so that during situations such as happened at the Liberation Road and other parts of the country the situation would be brought under control.
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