Fire service to crackdown on city businesses

As part of its annual Fire Prevention Month observation, the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) will be cracking down on businesses in Georgetown that are not in conformity with necessary safety regulations.
“We will be visiting schools and businesses randomly to ensure that they are in compliance with fire safety regulations, so they need to be on the lookout,” according to Fire Prevention Officer Nigel Gravesande.
Speaking with Guyana Times on the sidelines of a donation by the NEW GPC INC, Gravesande gave an update on the activities planned for the month, which includes the inspection.
The Fire Prevention Officer posited that during this annual exercise, several city businesses are often flagged for not adhering to the necessary safety practices.
“We found mostly in commercial buildings along Regent Street, and especially in

this period when they’re now doing stocktaking for the Christmas season, you find that they have a problem of overstocking, poor housekeeping, no fire protection, no detection system or alarm system.”
“So these are just some of the areas that we’ll be looking at. We have a problem also where there are poor electrical wiring, overloading and these kinds of things but we’re going to be looking at all these aspects,” Gravesande noted.
The Fire Prevention Officer went on to note that in dealing with those businesses that are in breach of the safety regulations, the fire service will write to them after a valuation and make recommendations on what needed to be done to get inconformity with the necessary regulation.
“After the letter is sent, they will have a period of time to clean up their act and failing to do so, will allow us to take the necessary action in terms of taking them to court,” he stated.
While he could not give any specific figure or details at the time, Gravesande did note that they have taken persons to court in the past, adding that in some cases the business even had to close down as a result of their lack of conformity.
This year’s Fire Prevention Month will be observed under the theme: “Promote a green economy; Give priority to fire safety”. The activities will kick off with a career fair on Wednesday at the National Park after which the event will be taken to other districts throughout the country.
In addition to the inspection exercise, another area the fire service will be focusing on is educating citizens on safety practices, particularly with regards to waste disposals and open/outdoor fire.
According to the fire prevention officer, they will be targeting persons living in close environs, such as new housing schemes and in the city, imploring them to refrain from lighting fires that can affect others within their environment.
Just two weeks ago, some 22 students from Tutorial High School and another from Richard Ishmael Secondary School were rushed to the hospital after being affected by smoke coming from the GPSU Ground on Thomas Lands, where persons were burning the dried grass to groom the field.
Gravesande pointed out that permission has to be giving to persons in these areas before they can go ahead and light fires, adding that none was sought in this case.
Nevertheless, he went on to suggest that persons make use of the disposal services in getting rid of their waste as oppose to lighting fires, which not only affect others but also damage the environment.