Accra, Aug. 19, GNA – The Ghana National
Fire Service (GNFS) on Monday appealed to corporate Ghana to support the
2019/2020 anti-bushfires campaign, which seeks to galvanise public support in
the fight against illegal bushfires across the country.
Deputy Chief Fire Officer (DCFO) Robert
Semekor Fiadzo, GNFS Director in Charge of Rural Fires told the Ghana News
Agency in an interview that Ghanaians must come together to fight illegal
fires, “GNFS cannot fight illegal fires alone, we need the support of corporate
Ghana to win the battle and protect the Ghanaian territorial integrity”.
He identified some of the items needed for
the campaign as: Wellington and Combat Boots, Fire Beaters, Cutlasses, Nose
Guards, Motor Bikes and Bicycles, Torchlights, Overall wears, Megaphones, and
Whistles, and appealed to corporate institutions to support either in kind or
in cash.
DCFO Fiadzo appealed to institutions and the
corporate world to come on-board the 2019/2020 National Anti-Bushfires Campaign
and consider the fight as Corporate Social Responsibility project as bushfires;
“is not only destroying the habitation, but our survival is at stake. We are
all at risk with rate of destruction of our vegetation.
“We are therefore appealing to all Ghanaians
to join the fight against illegal fires. Traditional Leaders must protect their
lands against bushfires. We are all involved hence the theme, “My Environment,
My Life: Stop Bushfires Now!
The Deputy Chief Fire Officer who is also
the chairman of the 2019/2020 National Anti-Bushfires Campaign, said “our doors
are opened wide for the support. You can donate at National, Regional and
District Offices of the GNFS or call there personally and we will pick the
items up whilst cheques should be written in the name of the Ghana National
Fire Service.
He said the 2019/2020 Anti-Bushfires
Campaign blueprint was aimed at reducing the indiscriminate bush burning that
affected the environment, economic activities, social and cultural practices.
He said GNFS was revamping the Fire Volunteer
Corps, equiping them with resources, which would be mobilised to empower them
to be vanguards of the anti-bushfires campaign.
DCFO Fiadzo explained that the 2019/2020
Anti-bushfires campaign blueprint is built on the general theme: “My
Environment, My Life: Stop Bushfires Now! Would mainly use community radio
programmes, community durbars, volunteer and peer education, door-to-door
messages.
Chiefs and Queenmothers would also be roped
in the campaign to protect the lands under their jurisdiction. Religious
Leaders, are being tasked within the blueprint to also preach on the negative
impact of illegal fires especially as we enter into the dry season, whilst
school children would also be educated and deployed as Anti-Bushfires
environmental ambassadors.
The GNFS Command, supported by the National
Anti-Bushfires Campaign Committee and the Ministry of the Interior would launch
the blueprint on October 11, in the Volta Region.
He explained that currently the committee
was engaging companies, oil marketing companies, players in the agricultural
value chain financial institutions and other stakeholders to mobilise resources
for the campaign.
GNA
