Calling it ‘bunkum’… : Home Affairs rejects APNU criticism of Fire Service

THE Ministry of Home Affairs said, yesterday, that it, categorically, rejects the APNU (A Partnership for National Unity) “bunkum about Guyana’s Fire fighting capacity.”   In a detailed statement, the ministry said the record speaks for itself and, since the late 1970s; fire hydrants became unreliable because of vandalism or low water pressure to support firefighting.
The ministry said, as a matter of fact, the Chief Fire Officer wrote in his 1979 Annual Report that “there is urgent need for improvement in the water supply in New Amsterdam and this has been drawn to the attention of the authorities concerned, since the highest standard for fire protection for the area cannot be a reality, in view of the present risks and projected development, until the present unsatisfactory condition is remedied.”
The ministry said this clearly indicates that the fire hydrant situation had begun deteriorating since in the late 1970s under the PNC (People’s National Congress) Administration.  
With the advent of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) to office, the new government has taken several fire protection initiatives since 1992 to present, the ministry said.
It said, in that regard, three new stations were opened in Berbice, at Corriverton, Rose Hall and Onverwagt.
According to the ministry, there are now six fire tenders and one browser in the Berbice area, as against one station and one tender in 1992.
                                   
Never completed
“The previous Government sought to construct a fire station at Corriverton in 1978 but the station was never completed beyond laying the foundation,” the ministry pointed out.
The statement added that, similarly, fire stations were constructed at Wismar and Anna Regina in 1975 and 1979, respectively, but they were never opened. In fact, the one at Anna Regina was used as a Knowledge Sharing Institute (KSI) and a nursery school before it was left to rot.
The ministry said, in 1991, the countrywide firefighting fleet consisted of seven water tenders, five serviceable; one foam tender; one Land Rover and one rapid intervention vehicle for seven stations.
It said the then Chief Fire Officer had stated, in his annual report: “These firefighting equipment are inadequate for the performance of our duties.”
Today, the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) has 16 stations and 36 water tenders, four aircraft crash tenders, six water bowsers, three all terrain tenders, three trailer pumps, one hose lawyer and one hydraulic platform (high rise) vehicle, the ministry disclosed.
It said, since 1992, the GFS has produced three strategic plans and is, presently, working on a new plan to further modernise.
The Ministry of Home Affairs and the GFS are always concerned with the safety of members of the public from fires and other emergencies and ensures that the agencies under its purview receive the necessary support to implement their programmes, the statement assured.
It maintained, however, that, when positive steps to implement new initiatives to bring about a better level of service to the nation are taken, these initiatives are stymied by other factors “as we witnessed when, recently, a bill was introduced to change the Guyana Fire Service to the Guyana Fire & Rescue Service,” the ministry explained.

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