The Lagos State Government on Thursday called on the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to urgently beam its searchlight on the quality of electrical appliances coming into the country.
The Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations, Mr Oluseye Oladejo, made the call in a statement issued in Lagos.
Oladejo said preliminary investigation by his office and the state Fire Service Director, Mr Rasak Fadipe, revealed that installation of substandard electrical appliances, in most cases, trigger fire outbreaks.
He said that all hands must be on deck to forestall future occurrences.
Oladejo expressed concern on the incessant cases of fire outbreaks in the state, which had led to loss of lives and property.
He urged residents to be more vigilant and look out for only quality electrical appliances in the market.
The commissioner also advised them to ensure they patronised only qualified electricians carry out installations in their homes.
He urged Electricity Generation Companies (Gencos) and Distribution Companies (Discos) to look into the power voltage made available to customers, to prevent power surge.
According to him, power surge resulting from high voltage can cause fire outbreak.
Oladejo said the state government would continue to do everything within the confines of the law to ensure that lives and property of residents were secured.
He said that the government was not comfortable with the number of fire incidents that had occurred in the last few months.
According to him, the government will not look the other way while the trend continues.
He urged residents to observe fire safety measures in their homes and ensure that appliances not in use were turned off so as to reduce the probability of fire outbreaks.
“People should be more proactive to make sure that they switch off electrical appliances when they are going to bed and when they are also leaving their offices,” Oladejo said.
The commissioner said this would go a long way in reducing, if not totally eliminating the incidence of fire outbreaks in the state which had led to the loss of lives and property.
He said the state government had decided to embark on aggressive public enlightenment campaign across the metropolis to sensitise residents on fire safety measures in order to forestall future occurrences.
“Fire outbreaks in our homes, markets and offices are totally unacceptable and we must do something about them,” he said.
NAN
