Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee officially commissioned the $20 million Diamond Fire Station at a ceremony held on Thursday.
The station will complement the quickly expanding Diamond Housing Scheme which also boasts a modern secondary school, new primary school, hospital, police station and market tarmac.
According to a GINA report, Robee said, public safety involves providing a service to a community in order to give residents of that community some measure of security. “I am quite positive that any ordinary citizen after driving along, walking along or riding past this fire station would feel a sense of comfort knowing…,” he added.
He also said that establishing the fire station in Diamond is government’s way of recognising the community’s importance to the nation.
The fire station, which has men’s and women’s barracks, operational areas, a fitness area, an office for the officer in charge, kitchen and a dining hall, was completed in October 2012.
Rohee thanked Minister of Housing and Water Irfaan Ali for identifying the location for the fire station; recalling that several years ago he and the chief fire officer had pondered where to establish the entity along the East Bank.
The Guyana Fire Service and the ministry will soon develop a new strategic plan.
He said measures being taken, including the new Diamond Fire Station are not spontaneous, but “part of a plan that is being rolled out. I think that this is the first fire station that is being established on the East Bank. The nearest fire stations [are] at Timehri and at Ruimveldt.”
In his remarks, Chief Fire Officer, Marlon Gentle said that the commissioning of the fire station was another step toward developing the mandate of the ministry.
“It is evident that the government is ensuring that the safety of the people is considered,” he said. Gentle also said that the fire service and the ministry have recognised that fire loss results in social, economic and emotional distress to victims; hence the establishment of new fire stations across the country.
