Minister of Home Affairs, Robenson Benn during the budget debate in the National Assembly yesterday disclosed that in 2023 the Guyana Fire Service received over 4,000 phone calls and according to him government is working to acquire a new set of fire trucks.
Benn in his presentation to the National Assembly accepted that there have been “great challenges” at the level of the Guyana Fire Service that relate to a larger number of “fire calls” disclosing that in 2022 there were just over 1000 calls while in 2023 there were 4181 calls which represents a 182% increase. In addition to there being major damage to buildings, businesses, motorcars government properties, etc, he said that there was the “great sorrow of the tragic event at Mahdia where we lost (20) young people.”
Turning to the Commission of the Inquiry into the Mahdia dormitory fire, Benn said that when now Opposition Member of Parliament, Khemraj Ramjattan was the Minister of Public Security “he (Ramjattan) did receive a report which stated that the issues relating to the dormitories in the interior had to be resolved.”
According to Benn, “Later on there were reports to the Ministry of Education commissioned by the Hon. Priya Manickchand in relation to the responses, in relation to investing in safer school buildings and investing in better dormitories.”
Benn added, that it was Ramjattan who was part of the group of people in Parliament “who was cutting the budget” when the PPP/C was previously (before 2015) in government “to cut down investment in health, education, public security, that same fellow.”
However, Benn added that “The Guyana Fire Service under the protocols established, having given the reports in respect of doing improvements in relation to fire safety did not have the responsibility to do those things themselves, it is incumbent on the house owner, the owner of the building, whoever is the agency which owns the building to put things in place for follow up inspections by the Guyana Fire Service.”
He said it was true that there were inadequacies about a “delayed fire call” noting that the dormitory building was “well alight” when the fire service arrived. “And also there was the question of them being able to break into the building even when they arrived and there were questions of how best to treat with the children when they did rescue children from the building, and I want to say in spite of all of that happened the Guyana Fire Service personnel rescued persons from the building”,
Benn said that the event was for him personally one of the most “difficult things.”
He stressed that so far the Guyana Fire Service on request from the ministry has gone to “each and every dorm and school building in the interior particularly to put in smoke alarms, extinguishers… sand buckets and all other means to prevent issues relating to fire and they have also again done reviews and practices in relation to enhancing knowledge in relation to fires and the risk that is poses.”
According to him, one of the problems experienced at Mahdia at the time and to some extent even now is the “environment is toxic and we need to do more work to calm down some of these communities where people coming out with money, with gold, with diamonds, being a long way from their homes do not have the best behaviour and prey on young girls in the communities.”
Fire trucks
Benn also stressed that the message of “greater fire awareness” and fire safety must be continually carried. “We are investing more and more in relation to fire protection, we are buying new vehicles, water carriers, we are buying a new fire boat … we are looking at putting in place new fire stations, we just completed one at Wales and we anticipate looking at more fire stations throughout the country.”
Additionally, he said, that there were rehabilitation works ongoing at the fire station located in West Ruimveldt, “there is work going on in relation to acquiring new fire units, we bought a new crash tender for the Ogle fire station and we have also made a new building for that fire station.”
According to the Minister, they are also working on acquiring “a complete new set of fire trucks along with the requisite spares because maintenance is indeed a problem.”
