Every year, we get these routinised seasonal pronouncements from the Fire Chief that target both private homes and the commercial sector, cautioning against the customary Christmas time indulgences like the additional consumption of power against the backdrop of what has been, for years a decidedly unreliable electricity supply regime,(and a failure over the terms of office of several political administrations) to fix the faults that obtain at a perpetually-in-crisis Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL). So that the seasonal exhortations of the Fire Chief are, more or less, exercises in going through the motions since the realisation of his Christmas wishes will continue to exist only in the realm of pipe dreams unless these are backed by practical action to fix the fundamental problems… and here we hasten to add that some of these are not the responsibility of the Fire Chief.
We are, however, altogether entitled to raise some of the burning issues with him. We believe, for example, that the Fire Chief’s articulation of just how vulnerable to fires we are ought to be frank and frequent. The public lobby for an enhanced safety regime across the board would, we believe, be enhanced by periodic and particularly public notifications about just how safe we are in terms of fires, what are the particular weaknesses that exist, the extent of the emergency attending those weaknesses and just what it will take, both in terms of resources and time frame, to fix them.
Contextually, our minds run, inevitably, to the uniqueness of the vulnerability of our capital, Georgetown, to fires, devastating ones, against the backdrop of what, over the years, have been the distressingly feeble attempts to correct them. Here, one must be frank in pointing out that over the years the delinquencies associated with standards in relation to the robustness of electrical installations in business houses have not been addressed with anywhere near the requisite level of robustness by City Hall, the Fire Department, or central government. Frankly, this particular issue has become a matter of national disgrace.
When consideration is given to the proximity of business houses to each other on Regent Street, it defies belief that more robust action in matters that have to do with electricity protocols (including the closing down of non-compliant businesses) has not long been the order of the day when it is entirely possible that one business house’s faulty electrical installation can result in the levelling of much of the city’s commercial centre.
But that is not all. Fire Service employees have spoken openly about the vulnerabilities that apply in downtown Georgetown insofar as accessing water supply is concerned, and all too frequently there are concerns expressed in hushed tones about the inventory deficiencies of the Fire Service.
Oddly enough, it appears to not to occur either to the Fire Service, the municipality or central government that the repetitive rituals that are attached to our Fire Service regimes, including days set aside for shining a spotlight on the work of the Service, amount to no more than absurd window-dressing unless we continue to be as close as we can be to properly safeguard ourselves against the disasters that threaten us every day. The truth is that in a society where the national fire prevention and fire-fighting regimes ought to be matters of importance that fall in the realm of national security, we have long descended to a level where our vulnerabilities have become considerable enough to cause us not to be able to depend on sensitive state and municipal institutions, efficient electricity and water supply systems, and a properly resourced Guyana Fire Service, but on a proverbial ‘wing and a prayer’.
So that while the Fire Chief’s seasonal calls to consumers for a responsible electricity management regime during the Christmas holidays in circumstances where an increasing number of business houses continue to cram themselves into the commercial centre almost daily, has become a run-of-the-mill gesture, what he has to say is likely to be taken more seriously if, during the rest of the year, we can have sufficient confidence-building measures on the parts of the aforementioned state and municipal authorities in pursuit of an enhanced capacity to prevent and fight fires. Otherwise, our Fire Chief will continue to find himself whistling in the wind.
