The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) is alerting members of the public about an employment scam being perpetrated by a former firefighter.
A GFS release yesterday stated that the ex-firefighter, Travis Samuel Sutton, has been soliciting funds from persons with the promise that they will be employed with the Fire Service.
The release let it be known that the GFS condemns his actions and would like to inform the public that he is no longer employed with the organisation, nor is he authorised to conduct any business on their behalf.
Fire chief, Gregory Wickham, told Stabroek News via a telephone that Sutton was employed by the GFS and was dismissed because of his behaviour in training school. However, Wickham explained that he has received complaints from about three persons who called to question why they have to pay to get a job with the Fire Service when the agency was doing the training. He said he also heard that Sutton allegedly told some 40 women that the GFS wanted to employ persons up in Linden. Wickham reiterated that Sutton was not authorised to do any recruiting for the GFS.
The fire chief told this newspaper that he responded to the allegation by saying, “He doesn’t know anything about that.” He also disclosed that he received information from someone’s phone showing the compensation given by some people. He noted that the information was sent to the officer in charge of Linden where it was then sent to him.
Wickham added that he was unable to say what kinds of funds Sutton was collecting from the women for recruitment, but noted that the Regional Democratic Council in Linden tried to get persons to contact Sutton so as to be employed by the Fire Service, quite unaware of what Sutton was doing at the time.
Meanwhile, the GFS in its release made it clear that there are no fees attached to becoming a member of the Fire Service. It has informed the relevant authorities about the issue, and is urging citizens to be on the alert and to report any information regarding the individual and his scheme to the Fire Service.
