EPA TAKES INITIATIVE TO CONTROL BUSHFIRES (PAGE 50, MAR 31, 2011)

FRUSTRATION and bitterness could aptly describe the feeling of farmers who lose their farms each year due to bushfires.
The fires are mostly set by game hunters and farmers whose intention it is to clear the old vegetation in preparation for the new one, but this has often led to the destruction of food crops and economic trees, like rice, cowpea, shea nut, dawadawa and mango.
Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had on countless occasions spoken against this negative practice, it had rarely made any significant gains towards halting the practice.
However, one significant development this year was that the EPA moved from rhetoric to action towards bringing to book the perpetrators of bush fires.
It caused the arrest of nine persons who were among a group of 50 that had set fire to farms and bushes in Nyamalga, a community in the East Gonja district, in its quest for game.
The nine persons were picked up by the Police Mobile Task Force on the evening of Saturday January 22nd, 2011, following an emergency call made by the Director of the EPA, Mr Iddrisu Abu.
As usual, some influential people began to impress upon the officials of the EPA to pardon the nine persons. Unlike many other heads of institutions who would have succumbed to this pressure, Mr Abu and his team shoved off this negative pressure.
Consequently, the nine suspects were arraigned before the Tamale district magistrate court, presided over by His Worship Gabriel Mate-Teye.
Six of them, who were classified as juveniles, were later bonded by the court for two years to be of good behaviour and avoid participating in any activity that is harmful to the environment.
The other three, who were identified as Osman Adam, 18, student, Latif Osman, 20, farmer and Adam Fuseini, 20, electrician, were charged for negligently causing unlawful damage contrary to section 12 and 172 of Act 29/30 of the Criminal Code.
The court later sentenced Osman Adam and Latif Osman to two weeks imprisonment, whiles Adam Fuseini, who pleaded not guilty, has his case still pending.
The prosecution of these nine persons should send a signal to all persons in the region that the EPA is ready to bare its teeth.
It is heart-warming to note that the judiciary has also thrown its weight behind the EPA in this regard.
During the court proceedings, the judge did give a note of caution to persons who engage in bush fires, saying that such people, when brought before the court, would be made to face the music for their actions.
He said the court would remain resolute in ensuring that no one gets away with it after causing damage to the environment, which, he noted, was humans’ source of livelihood.
Mr Mate-Teye chided some politicians, chiefs, opinion leaders and members of the clergy for attempting to seek reprieve for perpetrators of bush fires, stressing that all must begin to act responsibly in the interest of the state.
Apart from the prosecutions, the EPA officials also did the unimaginable this year by moving from community to community trying to stop fires with the help of the community folk.
According to the regional director, the decision to embark on this venture followed several calls by community folk to notify the EPA about fires in their communities and their potential to cause havoc.
Mr Abu admitted that it was a difficult task trying to stop Harmattan fires, because they spread so fast.
He mentioned the unavailability of water as a challenge, but noted that the use of dampened sacks sometimes proved helpful.
The EPA, through the Ghana Environmental Management Project (GEMP), also organised a forum for chiefs in the three regions of the north to discuss the bush fire menace and make commitments towards its prevention.
Already, some of the chiefs were enforcing a non-burning policy in their respective jurisdictions and this served as an example for others to emulate.
In short, the determination shown by officials of the EPA to control bushfires has been remarkable and worthy of praise.
Whiles we commend the EPA for its drive to halt the bushfire menace, all other partners must get on board because bushfires have negative implications for food security and environmental sustainability.