Guyana rolls out fire prevention training throughout country

An education awareness outreach programme to inform the public on fire safety and prevention has been launched by the Fire Advisory Board of Guyana.

It was revealed that the programme was launched via a small ceremony at the Laurie Lewis Lecture Hall, RK Security National Headquarters, on Wednesday. Chairman of the Board, Ramesh Sugrim speaking during the ceremony, said that the outreach will be conducted in all regions.

“Guyana is taking off rapidly, and likewise the skill of our people, the safety of our people, and the future as a whole, we will have to incorporate all those developments for our future,” he said. Sugrim expressed hope that the security and safety in Guyana could resemble that of the ABC countries in South America.

It was noted that the ABC countries, or ABC powers, are the South American countries of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, seen as the three most powerful, most influential and wealthiest countries in South America.

“Our security skill is paramount, our fire safety skill is also paramount important, because we need to protect our assets too,” Sugrim stressed.

Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister, Robeson Benn, pointed out that there is still a long way to go in improving safety and security in Guyana.

“We need to talk more about prevention, we need to talk more about prevention, we need to speak more about safety in totality and the security which goes along with it, and we need to improve our responses at the level of the fire service,” he said.

Minister Benn pressed the need for training in public and private institutions, especially in domestic circumstances, where a large number of fires occur.

“We have many more steps to undertake to have improvements and to make sure that the public is aware of the improvements we need to make, and the fact that we have to be vigilant in respect of the question about fires,” the minister said.

Benn revealed that the programme will be rolled out in businesses and schools across Guyana. He said that the board consists of persons from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Home Affairs and Legal Affairs Ministries, the Guyana Fire Service, among others.