Stakeholders concerned about rampant bushfires

Dormaa-Ahenkro (B/A), Jan. 31, GNA - Stakeholders in bushfire prevention in Dormaa district have expressed concern about the alarming rate at which bush fires were destroying properties and the vegetative cover in the district.

Speaking in separate interviews with the Ghana News Agency at Dormaa-Ahenkro, the stakeholders described as unfortunate, the act by a few disgruntled persons to satisfy their individual interests, resulting in the destruction of valuable properties of others.

Mr Chou-En-Lai Paul Ankomah, Chairman of Dormaa district anti-bushfire task force and Mr. Kwasi Damoah, Chairman of the assembly's sub-committee on environment, noted that there were too many uncontrollable bushfires in the district in January this year. They mentioned communities, including Kyeremekrom, Taforo, Twumkrom, Maase, Kofidukrom, Duasidan and Tank Ase on the Dormaa-Ahenkro-Berekum trunk road as the hot spots for the fires. The two officials attributed the cause of the fires on the activities of hunters, Indian hemp smokers and vegetable farmers, who they said, used naked fires extensively in their operations. Mr Ankomah described as unacceptable the lukewarm attitude of people in fire-prone areas towards fire fighting, which he said had hindered the implementation of the various programmes designed to minimize the incidence of bushfires in the district. "Even though a set of bye-laws on environmental protection have been gazetted for the assembly, restrictions in it have made their enforcement quite cumbersome, giving defaulters the chance to escape justice," he added.