Editorial
Eliminate the ‘bad master’ destroying lives and property
The Ghana Fire Service continues to refire outbreaks were recorded in 2020
Dear Editor,
Over the years, domestic and industrial fires across the country beat one’s imagination of what really the problem is. I have heard and read in the news countless number of fire outbreaks and their attendant havoc to life and property.
l vividly remember a passage in the Primary English Reader titled: “Fire is a good servant but a bad master”. Really, if this saying is anything to go by, how can we tame this master to be an excellent servant?
I quite remember during the former President John Dramani Mahama’s reign where fire incident was quite rampant and hardly a week passed without news on fire outbreaks in the country.
Can Ghanaians ever forget the twin disaster, i.e the fire and flood at Kwame Nkrumah Circle in 2015 which claimed hundreds of lives and destroyed property running into millions of cedis and maimed many?
I was sad and heart-broken when l read on page three of the Ghanaian Times on September 12, 2022, where three fire incidents killed some people including a pregnant woman, while another five-bedroom self-contained house was also razed down.
When these incidents occur, we are often told by security agencies that “investigations are under way” to ascertain the cause of the fire. However, these ‘findings’ somewhat remain a ‘mystery.’ Citizens do not get to know the outcome of the investigations. The least they hear sometimes is that the fire may have been caused by an ‘electrical fault’.
If faulty electrical installations are, indeed, the case, then what has happened to the law regarding using prescribed electrical materials and certified electricians to carry out any wiring activity?
I, therefore, wish to use your medium to call on all relevant stakeholders including the Ghana Energy Commission, the Electricity Company of Ghana and Ministry of Energy to step up their supervisory roles in order to drastically and if possible, eliminate this “bad master” destroying lives and property.
By Godwin Anthony Nkunu
0209378764/0547333272
Dear Editor,
I wish to use this esteemed platform to urge the traditional councils of Osu and La to call for independent investigation into the recent demolition exercise at Kaajaano.
The exercise rendered hundreds homeless.
Information about the reason for the demolition has been scanty with those desiring to know feeding heavily on social media posts.
One particular name –Jato, has been associated with it but under whose instruction the exercise was carried is also not known.
Sadly, instead of getting to know who ordered the demolition and for what reasons, traditional authorities of Osu and La have been embroiled in a tug-of-war over ownership of the said land.
This is premature. At this moment, they should call for investigation into the exercise to know the people behind it.
When that is done, then discussions about the owners of the site can begin. That would end the posture of the two neighbouring town which has the potential to turn into something else.
Ataa Osa Mensah,
Osu
Dear Editor,
I wish to use your respected platform to draw the attention of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to the behaviour of traders and some drivers about the use of lower denomination coins, specifically the 20 and 10 pesewas.
About two weeks ago, I read in your sister newspaper, The Ghanaian Times about this problem and the caution that followed from the BoG and some economic analysts.
The warning they gave was that the continuous rejection of the notes could create pricing problems which can eventually affect inflation.
I thought that would put to bed that practice or refusal to accept the coins when given out as change or use to pay for particular service.
Unfortunately, the problem still persist among traders, drivers, customers and passengers alike. Only last week, there was as altercation in the Accra Central area where a woman refused to accept five 20 pesewas note totaling one cedi.
As the argument continued, the trader decided not to sell to the customer again after by-standers explained to her that it was still a legal tender and those that refused it could become offenders.
This is an issue the BoG and other regulatory agencies must go and explain to the people and let them know that it is unlawful not to accept a currency that is still in use.
It nothing was done, it could create a much more serious problems.
Mary Osei Badu,
Swedru
