–says repairs underway to fix flaws, GFS more equipped today than ever before
FIRE Chief (Ag) Gregory Wickham has broken his silence on a Facebook post that criticised firefighters for using buckets of water at the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) headquarters on Homestretch Avenue, insisting the incident stems not from neglect but from long-standing structural defects in the building, problems he says are now being fixed under a new contract.
Speaking directly to the controversy, Wickham on Thursdaty night said the administration of the GFS and the Ministry of Home Affairs place the highest priority on the welfare, health, and safety of its personnel. “We pay great attention to staff welfare, well-being, health and safety to ensure that we all have a good working environment,” he said, before turning to the specifics of the complaint.
According to the Fire Chief, the issues date back to the very beginning of the service’s occupancy of the building. Over the years, staff have had to contend with a leaking roof, cracking walls, cracked glass on parts of the building’s surface, and recurring plumbing failures in the washroom and lavatory areas — problems that required repeated repairs just to keep the facility functional.
Wickham confirmed that the building was constructed by Mohamed’s Enterprise, and that the defects have persisted since firefighters first moved in.
Rather than allow the problems to linger, Wickham said the GFS and the ministry took a “holistic” approach once the pattern of defects became clear, re-tendering the remedial works to bring in a contractor capable of addressing them properly. That process has already produced results.
The winning contractor began work on August 6, 2026, to overhaul the washroom facilities, blamed for the bucket-and-water complaint. Wickham described the project as a work in progress, signalling that further updates on the building’s rehabilitation should be expected as work continues.
Beyond the headquarters repairs, Wickham used the opportunity to highlight the broader gains the service has made in equipping and expanding its operations. He pointed to significant investment in personal protective equipment and breathing apparatus sets that allow firefighters to safely operate in hazardous, low-oxygen environments, alongside an expanded fleet of fire tenders to respond to emergencies across the country.
Wickham also noted that the GFS network has grown to more than 20 fire stations, extending the service’s reach and cutting response times in communities that previously relied on more distant units.
The Fire Chief also spotlighted the growing role of the Service’s Emergency Medical Technicians, who have moved beyond fire response to deliver frontline medical assistance — including the delivery of nine newborn babies, a milestone Wickham cited as evidence of how far the EMT programme has come.
Wickham closed his address on a note of assurance, telling the public and his own staff that the Service takes pride in its work and remains committed to the health and welfare of its personnel.
“We will continue to ensure they have a good working environment so that the work we produce would stand the test of time,” he said, adding that both the GFS and the Ministry of Home Affairs are actively acting on the outstanding issues at the headquarters. “Have the confidence that all issues are being acted upon,” he told the public.
