Agona-Nkwanta (Western Region) 14 Jan. ’98
The New Ahanta-West district fire officer, Mr. Francis Yarquah, has called for the immediate ban on bush burning, hunting and palm-wine tapping in the district until the end of the Harmattan. He said the call for the ban has become necessary because about half of the district is covered by rubber and oil palm plantations belonging to the Ghana rubber estate limited (GREI) and national oil palm limited (NOPL). There are also a number of sawmills. Mr. Yarquah, who made the call after a familiarisation tour of the district, said any fire outbreak in the area will be very disastrous to life and property and asked the people to be extra vigilant. He explained that at the moment, the leaves of the rubber trees have dried up and were falling off, making it very risky to handle fire around the plantations. Mr. Yarquah also expressed the urgent need for setting up fire volunteer squads in towns and villages in the district to combat any Bushfire outbreak. He disclosed that the district office of the Ghana fire service has drawn out an elaborate programme aimed at educating the people on causes of fire outbreak, fire hazards, fire prevention and fire fighting techniques. He appealed to private and commercial drivers plying Takoradi-Tarkwa and Takoradi-Axim not to allow their passengers to smoke in their vehicles.
