Koforidua, Aug. 11, GNA - A total of 545,000,000 million cedis worth of property was damaged by fire in the Eastern Region in the first half of this year.

This was stated by revealed by the Deputy Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Gustav Narh-Dometey, in a speech read on his behalf at the closing of the Regional Fire Awareness Week at Koforidua on Friday. He expressed concern about the loss of lives in fire outbreaks and commended the Ghana National Fire Service for its efforts in organising public education on prevention, suppression and control of fire. Mr Narh-Dometey said the government was leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that the Service was allocated enough resources to face the challenges confronting it.

He said apart from the importation of more fire engines and equipment, the government had facilitated the promulgation of the Fire Precaution Regulation, which mandates the Fire Service, among other things, to ensure that building plans fulfilled conditions for the award of a fire certificate.

The Deputy Minister appealed to the people to acquaint themselves with basic lessons of fire awareness, prevention and safety to reduce outbreaks.

The Eastern Regional Commander of the Service, Mr William Brown-Acquaye, said out of the 20 fire appliances for the region, only 10 were in working condition and appealed to the Government to help resolve the situation.

He suggested the formation of fire volunteer groups at work places to monitor the observance fire safety measures and to give early-warning signals of possible outbreaks.

Mr Brown-Acquaye also recommended the review of PNDC Law 229 on Bush Fires to ensure that those who wilfully violated fire laws faced stiffer sanctions to deter others.

The one-week programme under the theme, "Fire is a menace, help prevent it," included demonstration of fire fighting skills, exhibition of fire fighting and rescue equipment, lectures and film shows.