Mr. William Brown Aquaye, the new Chief Fire officer of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), on Friday assured Ghanaians of his readiness to make the necessary changes within the ranks of the Service for effective and efficient services.
"All square pegs who have managed to find themselves in round holes will be removed and appropriately positioned for effectiveness and efficiency in the Service," he stressed.
In his maiden address to the directors, deputy directors and the regional commanders of the GNFS, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the level of indiscipline that had permeated the rank and file of the Service and urged the officers to help him remove the canker.
He cited poor accommodation, inadequate logistics and poor salaries as some of the challenges that had bedevilled fire officers and called on them to co-operate with him in his quest to fight for better conditions of service for them.
He deplored the inadequate and the precarious nature of the Service's fire tenders all over the country and assured them that very soon the Service would take delivery of a number of fire tenders and other vital equipment from the US and India.
Mr Aquaye appealed to the top hierarchy to take good care of the fire tenders by using them exclusively for fire fighting and not for water supplies.
"We will monitor the movement of all the vehicles, especially the fire tenders and any District or Regional Commander who flouts this directive will be appropriately dealt with."
He told them to also focus more on fire prevention since knowledge on fire prevention was one of the best means of fire safety or preventing fire outbreak.
The Fire boss presented a paper on what he intends to achieve within the first year of his administration.
In the document, Mr Aquaye mentioned the establishment of a vibrant public relations outfit at the headquarters, a well-structured cadet corps training modules for basic to tertiary institutions and the training of 100 officers in ICT who would in turn teach their colleagues.
"There will also be the establishment of Fire Safety Units in five regions to embark on intensive fire education and the setting up of five Task Forces to manage floods, road traffic collision and the establishment of fire hydrants in five regions," he added.