Koforidua, May 17, GNA - Mr Yaw Barimah, the Eastern Regional Minister, has spoken about the negative effect of fire outbreaks on the economy and said there was evidence that most of the fires could have been prevented.

He said the state must not continue to lose unnecessarily on things that could be prevented and called for strict adherence to building regulations to forestall the occurrence.

Mr Barimah said this when he received the leadership of the Ghana Electrical Contractors Association (GECA) at his office on Tuesday. "It is time all apply the rules diligently to help stop incidence where government loses money owing to negligence." He said the government was willing to team-up with organizations such as GECA to assist to prevent fire outbreaks.

The President of GECA, Mr Joseph Walker, presented a business directory, which is a list of licensed members of the association, to Mr Barimah.

The compilation of the directory, Mr Walker explained, was part of efforts by GECA to help the government to overcome shoddy work by some contractors and ensure value for money.