More than one year after the facility to house the Bartica Fire Station was completed residents in the interior community have expressed concern about whether it will ever be commissioned.
Bartica residents told this newspaper recently that the facility was completed during mid-2009 and it was expected to be in operation some time after. The single flat building with accommodation for several fire officers, is currently exposed to the elements, one resident said, with the gates to the facility as well its doors, open to the public.
Regional Executive Officer of Region Seven Peter Ramotar told this newspaper on Wednesday that the project does not fall under the purview of the regional administration but rather the Guyana Fire Service (GFS).
Contacted Fire Chief Marlon Gentle told Stabroek News on Thursday that the building is unfinished. According to him, the contractors are in the final stages of bidding for final works to be effected to the building. He said the GFS plans to occupy the building by August this year and according to him in the event of a fire, there are trained volunteers in the area who are in possession of fire fighting equipment.
A team of officials from GFS was expected to visit the community over the weekend to assess works completed on the facility.
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, during a visit to the Region Seven community in May last year, said that a fire tender and firemen have been identified for the community to fulfil request made by residents in the area. The Government Information Agency (GINA) had stated that the fire station will see 12 persons from the community being recruited and trained on a voluntary basis to man the facility.
The facility, which was built at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Fifth Street, was expected to be commissioned in July last year and Barticians had expressed appreciation to the authorities for the venture, since they stated that there is usually no one to turn to when a building is on fire in the area.
Officials at the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) in the area told this newspaper that the community is in urgent need of a fire station. They noted that whenever there is a fire in the area the building on fire would have to “burn to the ground” since, with the exception of a bucket brigade, nothing could be done to prevent a fire.
Some community members said that in the early 90s the mining community used a small vehicle, to which a small engine was attached. They said too that while several fire hydrants are positioned throughout the community, most of them are unserviceable.
The land on which the facility was constructed was also a matter of concern to the NDC since the parcel of land was indentified as a reserve area under the authority of the NDC.
However a lease was passed for the area and the land “was taken from us, then a piece given back to us,” an official at the NDC said, so that the fire station could have been built. The NDC had planned to use the land to undertake several projects but since the fire station was seen as a priority the council did not oppose to the land being utilized for this purpose.
