The Public Relations Officer ( PRO ) of the Bole District Fire Service Command, Mr Ibrahim Alhassan Bawa, has urged the general public especially residents of Bole to be custodians of the environment by stopping bushfires.
Speaking in an interview with Yagbon Radio on Friday, December 22, 2023 as part of the sub-station activities to educate the public on the need to protect the environment against bush fires, Mr Bawa said bushfires are prevalent in the harmattan season as the trade winds are strengthened causing disparaging fires with the least combustible atmosphere created.
He said the general public must be carefully guided against handling of fires in this season saying that, fires could be delicate and easily gets out of hand.
The PRO noted that even though the life of man is indispensably dependent on fire, handling of fire and related ignitable materials should express conscious-mindfulness of their destructive tendencies.
He cautioned farmers, hunters, herdsmen and other people in wood charring and charcoal burning activities to as much as necessary create fire belts when they intend burning some portions of the their farms or the bush for their purposes so as to prevent burning out of bonds.
He further cautioned that no amount of fire should be downplayed as a tiny glint could escalate into ravenous fires capable of destroying life and property.
He called on the public to help maintain and enforce the regulations governing bushfires in the country by bringing perpetrators to book in accordance with the law.
He added that it was important for Ghanaians to collectively realize that bush burning and bush fires are detrimental to the climate and agricultural production, especially in the savanna ecological zone.
Thus, he urged Ghanaians to take responsibility in preventing bush fires for the general good and wellbeing of the country, for the present generation and generations yet unborn.
The Fire Officer identified human factors as the most common causes of bushfires, giving the backing that, humans have a greater role to play in preventing bush fires.
He cited activities of farmers, hunters, herdsmen, smoke puffers as leading causes which must be controlled.
“Excessive bushfire kills our vital herbs, destroyed our soil manures, destroyed farm crops, burn electrical polls and causes many other problems that draw the nation back economically,” he added.
Bushfires are becoming one of the environmental challenges confronting Ghana and increasingly it has become difficult for the Government to control it because this activity is deeply rooted in the socio-cultural and economic systems of the people.
Source: yagbonradioonline
