FOUNDATION WORRIED OVER CHILD BURNS (PAGE 34, FEB 6, 2010)

From George Ernest Asare, Kumasi.

The Ghana Burns Survivors Foundation has expressed concern over the number of children who have suffered various degrees of burns in recent times at the deserted Anloga Junction wood village in Kumasi.
According to the foundation, four children had suffered severe burns within a spate of one month “when they stepped onto a mass of concealed burning saw dust and sustained severe burns on the feet, legs and body”.
In a statement signed by Mr Erastus Asare Donkor, Director of Communications of the foundation, and copied to The Mirror, it noted, “Two weeks ago, two-year-old Genevieve Mensah, whose mother trades at the Anloga Junction area, strayed into the deserted wood village area, stepped onto a heap of concealed burning saw dust mass and burnt her feet and hands in the process.
“The latest victim is a young boy from Afful Nkwanta in Kumasi who, according to eyewitnesses, used the place as a place of convenience, sunk his feet deep into a burning saw dust mass and, in an attempt to get out, fell on it, sustaining burns at the feet and body.”
The statement pointed out that children within the Anloga Junction and its environs had become victims of the severe burns arising out of either playing, loitering, dumping refuse or using the deserted site as a place of convenience and said that should not be allowed to continue.
It drew the attention of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), the National Fire Service and concerned citizens in Kumasi to the danger the deserted wood village posed to children and noted that “the danger seeks to militate against efforts being made to curtail and eradicate needless burn injuries and their attendant physical deformities”.
It explained that various checks at the deserted Anloga Junction wood village site “revealed concealed burning saw dust heaps that look dry on the surface but burns deep inside, serving as a recipe for burns lurking beneath”.
“As a foundation committed to educating the public on the prevention of burns, encouraging, empowering and providing support for burns survivors in the country, we see the development as an affront to the development of children in and around the Anloga Junction in Kumasi and urge the authorities to act now to save lives,” it noted .
The statement also appealed to the city authorities to cordon off the area to prevent further burns and urged parents to be more responsible for the upkeep of their children to ensure that they didn’t stray to those dangerous areas.