GNFS Announces Nationwide Ban on Group Hunting

The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has placed a nationwide ban on group hunting to control outbreak of bush and wildfires.

The service has intensified monitoring in particularly bushfire prone areas, warning that culprits would be prosecuted.

Assistant Station Officer (ASO) Zecharia Kabore, the Atebubu-Amantin Municipal Rural Fire Coordinator, announced the ban in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the sidelines of a public hearing on the proposed creation of Bono East Region on Friday at Atebubu in the Brong-Ahafo Region.

The Justice Stephen Allan Brobbey’s Commission of Inquiry is in the Region organising public hearing for the creation of the proposed Bono East and Ahafo Regions out of the Brong-Ahafo Region.

ASO Kabore explained that the nationwide ban on hunting was necessitated due to the severity of the harmattan.

He expressed worry about uncontrolled bushfires which had become an annual ritual and attributed the menace largely to hunting and palm wine tapping.

ASO Kabore observed that activities of Fulani herdsmen were also a contributory factor to bushfires in the country as the herdsmen deliberately set fire for green grass.

He said no bushfire outbreak was recorded in the Atebubu-Amantin Municipality last year, and attributed the achievement to control and preventive measures introduced by a committee set up by the Atebubu-Amantin Municipal Security Council.

That notwithstanding, ASO Kabore said three bushfire outbreaks had been recorded in the area, saying the situation could be worsened due to the influx of Fulani herdsmen and their unscrupulous activities.

He observed that the repercussions of bush and wildfires were enormous and appealed to the media to intensify anti-bushfire campaigns in the country.

ASO Kabore advised farmers to be wary of naked fires to avoid fire outbreaks.

Source: GNA