A new national general emergency number, 112, has been introduced to replace the old one which was 999.
All calls to the new number, which was introduced by the National Communications Authority, will go to a central call point where one will be asked which of the emergency agency providers wanted - Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), the Ghana Police Service or the National Ambulance Service.
Based on the response, the call will be directed to the appropriate emergency agency provider for immediate action.
The Public Relations Officer of the Ghana National Fire Service, Divisional Officer II, Mr Prince Billy Anaglate, who disclosed this to the Junior Graphic, said the 999 line was reportedly malfunctioning most of the time, which among other reasons was why the emergency agency providers introduced the individual emergency numbers.
Mr Anaglate said he hoped “with the new number, 112, the prank calls people make, especially to the GNFS, will cease.”
He warned children, who are the main abusers of calls to the emergency number 192, that it was wrong and criminal for them to make prank calls and asked them to desist from the practice.
“Children are those who often make the prank calls. They should know that it is an emergency number that is used to protect people’s lives and property from being destroyed in times of fire outbreaks, so they should desist from making any prank call,” he stated.
He stated that the inability of the GNFS to apprehend and prosecute those who engaged in the practice was perhaps the reason why the children continued to make the prank calls to the emergency lines.
“We are working towards apprehending those who make such prank calls, and they would be used as scapegoats,” he warned.
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