Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn on Wednesday handed over keys to five brand new fire trucks to the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) which will boost its operations.
He stated that three of the vehicles will be deployed to Mahdia, Lethem, and Mabaruma.
Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn handing over the keys to Fire Chief Kalamadeen Edoo on Wednesday at the Ministry of Home Affairs
“These new assets are supposed to go into action to help us to get further on top of the incidents of fire in Guyana and particularly too, to deal with the question of expansion of the resources for fighting fire in the new towns.”
Making note of the recently commissioned fire station at Melanie on the East Coast of Demerara (EBD) and ambulance service expansion, the Minister stated that the implementation of resources and training in this area will be a continued trend by the Government.
“We continue on this trend to make significant improvement in terms of the resources and the training in respect of mitigating, preventing, fighting, reducing the questions of fire… the President – Irfaan Ali and the Cabinet debated this issue and thought, again, along with all the other efforts were making, that we had to bring in these units.”
Additionally, the Minister encouraged persons to equip their homes with the necessary fire equipment and to be vigilant in the event that a fire may occur.
Further, the Minister noted that works are currently ongoing in the new location expected to house the Central Fire station, with works such as landfilling commencing at the end of this year, with the expectation of the station being completed by the third quarter of next year.
The Minister had initially announced in June that the D’Urban Park area has been identified as the site for the relocation of the Central Fire Station, which also houses the GFS Headquarters.
Meanwhile, the Fire Chief expressed his gratitude to the Government and stated that the new vehicles are a commitment to ensure that the Fire Department is equipped and able to deliver in a timely and efficient manner when they are called upon.
He noted that apart from the three towns, two of the trucks will be dispatched to Essequibo and Eccles (East Bank Demerara), where the construction of a new fire station is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
