Fuel stations in Ghana have suspended credit facilities extended to the Ghana National Fire Service from the colonial days. The suspension is sequel to the GNFS’ inability to reimburse the petrol stations for fuel supplied to the state institution running into millions of Ghana Cedis.
And since January this year, the government has reportedly failed to release funds allocated for the fuelling of tenders to fight fires at the various regional and district offices GNFS and so they officers cannot afford to pay cash.
Consequently drivers of fire tenders across the 10 regions of the country are routinely turned away by fuel station managers without supplying them the fuel required for their humanitarian activities.
The situation has become a source of great worry to fire officers who wonder how they would get to venues of fire outbreaks with a view to curtailing the menace. The lives of hundreds of thousands of Ghanaians and properties are in grave danger should a fire disaster strike a home, a marketplace, a state institution or a corporate entity in any part of the country.
The implication is that, if there is a fire outbreak and a victim makes a distress call to the offices of the GNFS, it is either they would be greeted with an excuse or would be met with unnecessary delays.
According to reports senior officers have had to, since the beginning of the year, use their own monies out of their meager salaries to fuel the tenders for operations.
Fire sources claim that only Ghc1, 000.00 was released by the government to some regional offices last month with district fire posts receiving a paltry Ghc300.00.
“Since January of this year, I have, like my colleagues in other regions, been using my own money to buy fuel to enable the tenders run.
“We cannot continue like this. We are supposed to be resourced by the government. The arrears are too much, and if a fire outbreak should hit a market, it would be difficult for us to combat the fire.”
He added that as fire officers, they are living in constant fear of a major fire disaster breaking out and that even the GNFS headquarters in Accra faced fuel allocation problem.
“Filling stations are refusing to sell fuel to the various regional fire offices because they owe them millions of cedis.
“When they drive the tenders to the filling stations, they turn them away. So if there is a fire outbreak, we should not expect the fire service to rush to douse a fire because there is lack of fuel,” he added.
On why the fuel shortage, the worried officer said the hierarchy of the GNFS does not prioritize emergency fire fighting; thus, funds allocated to them are used for other activities.
“It is not necessarily that the government is cash-strapped, the bosses do not prioritize emergency fire-fighting. Providing fuel for the various regional and district offices is not a priority to them,” the aggrieved officer indicted.