Politics
THE Cross River Fire Service amendment bill has crossed the second reading after it was deliberated upon by members of the state House of Assembly during plenary on Thursday.
Presenting the motion to the house, Mr Francis Ogban, member representing Biase State Constituency, disclosed that the law had been in existence since 1985 and did not suit the present day realities.
Ogban noted that the law, which was codified into Cross River Law in 2004, had levies and fines for fire violation for as low as N100 to N500, depending on the degree.
“With such amounts in the old law for levies and fines, the Cross River Fire Service cannot achieve anything following present day economic realities.
“Most of the fire fighting equipment of the agency are either obsolete or dead due to poor funding; this is why we have had various uncontrollable fire incidents in different LGAs of the state.
“After looking at the situation, I felt it was necessary for this law to be amended so that the state fire service can start functioning well, you know that any organisation that cannot generate revenue for its sustenance will definitely fail,” he said
Supporting the motion, Mr Davies Etta, representing Abi State Constituency, said the fire service was in a sorry state.
Etta said during the ninth assembly, members witnessed many fire incidents in the state, adding that it was because the agency responsible for fighting fire was poorly equipped.
He said they had reviewed the fines and levies to ensure that the agency raised funds that were feasible with the current realities.
Also supporting the motion, Mr Odey Wonah, representing Yala 1, said a major problem with the society was poor awareness of the effects of fire, especially when precautions wey not taken.
“If you go to many of our fuel stations, you will notice that they are wrongly located and they all have fire extinguishers that are expired.
“I wish fire safety will be added to the curriculum so that our children can start learning early how to prevent fire outbreaks and what to do when there is one,” he stated.
Mr Elvert Ayambem, Speaker of the assembly, thanked the sponsor of the bill for his concern for the society.
He committed the bill to the Committee on Environment for further deliberations. (NAN)
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– July 28, 2023 @ 10:40 GMT |
Tags: Mr Davies Etta Mr Elvert Ayambem Mr Francis Ogban Mr Odey Wonah
