Wa, Dec. 17, GNA - Mr Felix Ferkah, the Chief Fire Officer, has urged officers of the Ghana National Fire Service to ensure that all premises used for public purposes maintained minimum fire safety standards.

He said the enforcement of this requirement would enable them to achieve their aim of reducing the rampant outbreaks of fire and their resultant loss of lives and property. Mr Ferkah said this at a meeting with officers and men of the Fire Service in the Upper West Region at Wa during a working visit to the region.

The focus of the Service, he stated, had shifted from fire fighting to fire safety, as a result the personnel needed to be conversant with Legislative Instrument 1724 of 2003, which regulates fire precaution with a dual purpose of generating funds for the state and also protecting life.

He warned that his administration would not tolerate any form of indiscipline on the part of any personnel, irrespective of rank or position.

"Let us change our attitude in order to carve a new image for the Service. This calls for dedication to duty and discipline. You are therefore encouraged to familiarize yourselves with the Service's code as contained in LI 1724, since the disciplinary rod will fall on any officer who falls out of line".

To ensure fair and equitable distribution of personnel, he said a new policy was in place where new recruits were being posted back to the regions where they were recruited after training. He assured the firemen that they would all get new uniforms by the end of January 2007.

Mr Clement Nayiri, the Regional Fire Officer, said the region recorded 30 fire outbreaks this year out of which four persons died with another four suffering burns and property valued at about 946 million cedis were destroyed. He regretted that in this age of information and communication technology, the Service could not boast of a single computer in the region.