President Ali gives fire service failing grade for Brickdam fire response
President Irfaan Ali
President Irfaan Ali

-wants independent probe

BLASTING the Guyana Fire Service (GFS)’s response to Saturday’s devastating fire at the Brickdam Police Station, President Dr. Irfaan Ali on Sunday called for an independent investigation into the action taken by the fire service to control the blaze.

President Ali during a visit to St. Stanislaus College where the operations of the station will be temporarily housed, described the fire service’s response as “poor, at its best.”

He noted that a lot more could have been done by the fire service to control the blaze and potentially prevent the destruction of several sections of the police station.

The Brickdam Police Station which was the headquarters for the Guyana Police Force’s Regional Police Division 4 ‘A’ and housed the office of the regional commander, was completely gutted by fire on Saturday morning. Years of police records and vehicles valued millions of dollars were destroyed in the blaze.

The devastating fire, which reportedly started in the eastern section of the compound at 11:06 hrs, destroyed the Property Room, Enquiries Office, Traffic Department, and Officers’ Mess Hall.

The Head of State in his comments noted that government has been making significant investments in the fire service in a bid to equip it to effectively respond to threats of fires across the country. He said these investments were not reflected in the fire service’s actions on Saturday.

“We have been making tremendous investment in the last year in the fire service and I have made this very clear [that] in this country people would have to be held accountable for their actions.

The aftermath of the fire (Elvin Croker photo)

We can’t be making investments in state apparatus and state institutions and do not get the results from those investments. The response of the fire service was poor at its best yesterday, and as President, I hope the fire service can acknowledge this,” President Ali stated.

The President disclosed that instructions have been given to Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn to assemble a special team to investigate the performance of the service. He reiterated government’s commitment to tackle inadequate and inefficient performance in the public sector.

“This fire, this is less than a three minutes walk to our main fire station. We cannot continue as a country and as a people to not address these issues. We cannot continue to make investments and not have the returns on the investments, whether it’s in the public service, in the hospitals, the inefficiency has to be weeded out,” said President Ali.

INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT
Even as the Guyana Fire Service and the Guyana Police Force continue investigations to ascertain the cause of the fire, the Head of State made clear his intention to solicit international support to investigate the matter, as he highlighted recent threats made by individuals in New York.

“Why am I bothered? This is coming on the heels of threats made on the capital city from New York and this is not the first time and I’m not going to take this lightly; I am going to ask for international support to investigate, to follow any lead and to ensure that our capital remains safe,” the President stated.

Just last week an unknown person set fire to the North West Secondary School at Mabaruma in Region One causing severe damage to the structure. Auxiliary firefighters in the area and public-spirited residents responded to the scene and managed to contain the blaze to one section of the school. Though the dormitories, the Information Technology Department, and nearby buildings were saved, the wooden and concrete building was mostly gutted as a result of the fire.

President Ali noted that government is committed to ensuring that its public assets are protected and will be utilising local and international resources to ensure that instances of arson especially on public buildings are stopped and the perpetrators brought to justice.

DIASPORA HELP
Acknowledging the shortcomings within the GFS, the Head of State noted that plans are underway to find Guyanese living in the diaspora who once served in the capacity of fire chief, to provide training locally as part of efforts to improve the operations of the fire service.

President Ali noted that several ranks of the fire service negated their training and were unprepared for the emergency that required their best performance. He stated that significant retraining and new initiatives need to be in place to better equip the ranks to react to situations of national security.

“Yesterday evening, I asked the head of the diaspora unit to get me a list of all the persons in the diaspora who would have retired as fire chiefs in large cities whether it be Toronto [or] California, so we can bring that expertise home to infuse a level of professionalism, because this is about professionalism. The state can’t provide you basic things as safety equipment for you to wear as fire officers and you turn up without them. It means that you are not in any state of readiness to respond to an emergency,” President Ali stated.

TEMPORARY LOCATIONS
Meanwhile, to continue providing services to the people of Georgetown, temporary police offices have been established at the St. Stanislaus College, a short distance from the police station. At the new location, reports and other police-related matters will be dealt with. This development resulted from collaboration between the Ministries of Home Affairs and Education.

President Ali also used the opportunity to laud the efforts of ranks attached to the Brickdam Police Station. He praised them for their commitment to efficiently set up temporary offices mere hours after the devastating fire, to continue serving the people of Guyana.

“I want to thank the police force, the leadership of the police force, and the minister and his team for the efficient and quick way in which they organized themselves to have continuous service to the people and that is all the services that the Brickdam Police Station offers. With such a huge crisis on their hands, we never lost the ability to deliver service from the station to the population.”

The Brickdam Police Station housed 398 ranks belonging to the Commander’s Office, Traffic, Impact Base, and CID.

The President further disclosed that government is working to acquire assets that would allow for “comfort” while ranks are operating out of the temporary police station. Containerised offices and reconfiguration of containers are currently being considered by the Ministry of Home Affairs as means of temporary operations for the Brickdam Police Station.

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