She said the Assembly was considering “repackaging and reawarding” the project as a legacy project since it required urgent attention.

Madam Soyelleh gave the assurance in an interview in Babile when she responded to concerns from the chiefs and people of Babile regarding the non-operationalisation of the facility about five years after it was constructed.

According to the residents, the Babile zone could be described as a fire-prone area because it had recorded several fire incidents, which gravely destroyed both private and public properties because of the delay in response to those disasters.

One of the major affected areas was the Babile market, one of the biggest and highly patronised markets in the Upper West Region, which the people said had been razed by fire at least three occasions, including one incident that destroyed the entire market.

“As part of the common fund disbursement, there should be a percentage allocated for legacy projects.  

We will try to work out, taking the guidelines from the legacy projects, then we will repackage it and see what needs to be done”, Madam Soyelleh said.

She identified lack of electricity, water supply and minor renovations as the key challenges impeding the use of the facility, which the Assembly would address.

Mr. Bede Ziedeng, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lawra Constituency, acknowledged the importance of the fire post saying, “This is an important facility, and we cannot allow taxpayers’ money to go waste.”

He assured the community of his collaboration with the Assembly to fully complete and operationalise it as well as complete other stalled projects in the community, including the Babile-Jirapa road.

Mr. Vitus Dapilah Kadoe, the Regent of Babile, expressed concern about the critical importance of the facility to the area but had been left unattended since its completion in 2020.

He said the community expected the Assembly to provide furniture and extend electricity and water to that facility after the completion of the building, but that had not been done despite several appeals by the youth and community leaders.

Mr; Alex Yirikye, a former Assembly Member for the Babile Electoral Area, corroborated the concerns and said the community had, in the past, mobilised resources to provide beds and mattresses for fire officers to enable posting of personnel to the facility.

He said attempts to get the fire post operational did not materialise due to the requirement for an additional bungalow for a resident chief fire officer, which the community lacked the capacity to construct.

The residents and community leaders expressed hope that the assurances by the MCE and the MP would translate into concrete action to operationalise the fire post and enhance fire safety in Babile and the surrounding communities.