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Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, Member of Parliament (MP) for Klottey-Korle Constituency, has urged the citizenry to adhere to building regulations in the country to promote safety during disasters.

She also called for awareness creation on building regulations to reduce the occurrence of disasters and promote safety.

Dr Agyeman-Rawlings said this when she visited victims of a fire incident at Osu to sympathize.

A house at Osu, opposite the former SIC Club House, was gutted on Thursday by fire, leading to the complete destruction of over 15 rooms and displacing some 100 people.

There was no casualty.

Some items that were destroyed by the fire, which was caused by an electrical fault, were clothes, moveable furniture, household appliances and kitchenware.

“It never seems to matter until you need access to a place, that is when you understand the importance of having proper access for people to enter an area and safely exit in case of an emergency. I even think in trying to access this site, it was quite clear that the Fire Service would have had difficulty trying to reach this point to try putting the fire out.”

“This place used to be an open movement area where a vehicle could pass through and yet over the years people closed in on this space, but nothing was done by the relevant agencies. It doesn't matter until there is a situation and then you realize the importance of adhering to some of these regulations, these bylaws, these rules,” she said.

She said the disaster should serve as both a learning experience and an example of what could go wrong when citizens did not adhere to the necessary regulations.

The MP urged the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) to intervene and provide the necessary relief items to all affected persons.

Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings donated relief items, including second-hand clothing, mosquito nets, mosquito coils, bleach, buckets, and cups to the victims.