Most of the fire extinguishers fixed at the Essipong Sports Stadium near Sekondi have gone past their expiry age. They cannot be used in the event of a fire-outbreak. Mrs Roberto Aggrey-Ghanson, Takoradi District Fire Officer Class Three, disclosed this at a one-day workshop on fire prevention and fire fighting organised by the National Sports Council (NSC) for about 30 Fire Marshals of the NSC at the Essipun Stadium Monday. She said about 100 fire extinguishers installed by a Chinese company which constructed the stadium for the CAN 2008 tournament about two years now have not been serviced since then. Mrs Aggrey-Ghanson hinted that the office of the Western Regional Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) in Sekondi had accordingly brought this to the notice of the authorities at the NSC but "they always claim there are no funds to either service or replace them". According to her, the fire extinguishers have Chinese language inscriptions on them making it difficult to read to understand. She, however, explained that the appropriate period for every fire extinguisher to be refilled is six months. Mrs. Aggrey-Ghanson stressed the need for both public and private institutions to form Fire Marshals to be stationed at their facilities to ensure the safety of their infrastructure from fire outbreaks. She said the spate of fire outbreaks in the country in recent times called for the whole nation to take fire prevention seriously. Mr. Michael Smart-Abbey, Head of Safety at the NSC who opened the workshop, said the NSC had started training some of its staff as Fire Marshals to be stationed at all the sports stadia in the country to ensure fire prevention. Source: Ghanaian Times