Dear Editor,
A very large investment is being made in our school system and so much has also been lost due to fires. There was the QC fire and more recently the St. George’s fire also comes to mind. Other schools have also suffered, and if we were to look at what has recently happened with the police, fires have taken away a lot of the investments that have been made over the years. Going forward we should spend the funds to upgrade our current infrastructure in these important areas and other important structures with fire prevention systems such as sprinklers and fire extinguishers.
Installation of sprinkler systems in the current schools and new schools will require the involvement of construction companies with expertise and experience meeting the international and or regional standards for such fire prevention / protection systems. Unfortunately this appears to be a major gap currently within the local construction sector and it behooves us to ensure that our schools and major public and governmental structures are retrofitted with these systems.
Our local construction firms should also be given an opportunity to learn from established companies with experience putting these essential systems in place. In terms of priorities, it is easy to see how such an investment would be amongst the top 5 needed in the near term.
Sincerely,
Jamil Changlee
Chairman
The Cooperative Republicans of Guyana