Members of Parliament from the Kumasi Metropolis have conducted an on-site inspection at the Suame Magazine following a widespread fire that ravaged the industrial area.
The group with local leaders and fire victims to discuss the incident’s aftermath, and to explore remedies to prevent future occurrences.
The minority caucus is asking the government to institute insurance systems, architectural designs and make available fire tenders to mitigate fire situations.
At least 25 shops and 34 vehicles were destroyed by the recent fire at the Suame industrial area.
Some members of the minority caucus in Parliament led by Bantama MP, Francis Asenso Boakye, visited the Zone 21 Garage of Suame.
The team sat with leadership of the industrial hub and victims to ascertain the level of damage and liaison with local authorities to plan preventive actions.
Mr. Asenso Boakye indicated that engagements will be made with technical experts to explore strategies to prevent future occurrences.
“We will engage the city authorities. What we are doing now is engaging stakeholders and building the platform to work with the technical experts on how best we can solve the situation,” he said.
Preliminary investigation has pointed to a power outage that started the inferno, affecting shops specialized in battery servicing, welding, spraying, lubrication services, lathe machine operations, and other related activities.
Member of Parliament for the Old Tafo constituency, Vincent Ekow Assifuah is admonishing public and private entities to prioritize insurance schemes and interventions, to cushion victims of the periodic fires.
“Insurance issues are important. If most of the goods and shops here were insured, I am not sure the pain would have been overwhelming. So I believe we all can take a clue from this,” he said.
This incident has reignited discussions on fire safety in industrial zones.
The parliamentary group has pressed the government to ensure each district has its own fire tender, a measure they argue would lessen the impact of fire incidents.
Member of Parliament for Oforikrom, Mike Aidoo believes this strategy will minimize the impact of unavoidable fire situations.
“As a matter of urgency, government should bring in fire tenders to support the existing ones so areas like this will have ready fire services so the losses will be minimal when a fire happens,” he said.
The affected victims have already started putting up structures to begin their businesses.
Ashanti regional chairman of the Ghana National Association of Garages, Alhaji Lookman Nuhu Appiedu, is appealing for technological facelift of the enclave to upgrade safety and innovativeness.
“We need a technological change of this place. We should be able to transfer knowledge to outside expertise. We should be given opportunity to explore others areas of expertise in the auto-mechanic sector so Ghana can reap the highest benefit of this area,” he said.
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
