MARK WOYONGO ''PROVIDE POLICE AND FIRE SERVICE WITH RESOURCES''

The Minister for the Interior, Mr Mark Owen Woyongo, has urged district assemblies to use part of their resources to provide infrastructure for the police and fire services in their districts.

He mentioned their shares of the District Assemblies Common Fund, the District Development Fund and the Social Investment Fund as some of the resources they could use to provide such essential infrastructure.

Mr Woyongo also advised the assemblies to appeal to philanthropists, individuals and organisations, especially corporate bodies, to assist in that direction.

Answering questions from members in Parliament at last Tuesday’s sitting, the minister said some districts had benefited from such benevolence to provide infrastructure for the police and fire services.

Mr Mustapha Ussif, Member for Yagaba/Kubori, wanted to know when the Mamprugu/Moaduri District would be provided with a police station since there was none within the district, whilst Mr Ameen Salifu, Member for Wa East, wanted to find out when Funsi, the district capital, would be provided with a fire station.

Mr Woyongo explained that the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development would provide police and fire stations to the newly created districts as soon as funds were available but currently the Ministry of Finance was saddled with a lot of requests for infrastructure and other needs of the assemblies.

He said with the creation of the new districts, the police administration asked the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to inform the District Chief Executives (DCEs) and Members of Parliament to identify places and also provide infrastructure to enable the Ghana Police Service to set up police stations.

Mr Woyongo indicated that the Northern Regional Police Commander was also tasked to follow up with the DCE of the Mamprugu/Moaduri District and the Member of Parliament for the provision of infrastructure to set up a police station in the district and that the police administration was still awaiting their response.

He said as soon as the infrastructure was made available, the police administration would post personnel and provide logistics for the station.

He stated that the Funsi District in Wa would benefit from the 80 newly commissioned fire engines for the Ghana National Fire Service and that while the Ministry of the Interior was eager to cover all districts with fire equipment, it was expected that beneficiary districts would also put the requisite structures in place to facilitate the efficient functioning of the fire stations.