Latest update November 18th, 2024 1:00 AM
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Fire Prevention Seminar growing in stature
– Advisory Board Chairman
Yesterday several stakeholders participated in a Fire Prevention seminar hosted by the Guyana Fire Service, the Hand-in-Hand Mutual Fire and Life Insurance, the Fire Advisory Board and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The forum was aimed at sensitising the business community and raising awareness of the importance of fire prevention and general safety issues. Among the areas of discussion were: Fire Prevention issues; Fire Safety & the business community; the role and responsibility of the business community in Fire Prevention; the Chemistry of Combustion; Evacuation Procedures; Housekeeping; Storage Procedures; and a practical demonstration on the Use and Operation of Fire Extinguishers.
During the opening session, Chairman of the Fire Advisory
A section of the participants at yesterday’s Fire Prevention Seminar.
Board, Mr. Raj Singh, said the agencies involved should be lauded for the initiative as it has grown since its commencement in November 2010. According to Singh, when the seminar first started there were only 25 participants, in 2011 there were 50 and yesterday’s event attracted just over 100 participants.
“We have now outgrown this venue, this augurs very well for the importance that this particular issue of fire prevention and fire safety plays in our everyday lives” Singh pointed out.
He added that fire prevention is a very commonsense and proactive issue and its results are very difficult to measure since it is well nigh impossible to measure the cost that is saved when an accident is prevented by good housekeeping measures and such other simple fire prevention techniques.
“A fire avoided by prudent measures cannot be measured if that event never actually happened by the exercise of good fire prevention habits and techniques.”
Singh further thanked Hand-in-Hand for its sponsorship of the event and the GCCI, AINLIM and DOCOL for their contribution.
“This public/private sector partnership continues to be very strong and hopefully will continue to grow in the years to come and continue to play a very pivotal role in the calendar of educational activities of the Fire Advisory Board” Singh added.
Further, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, who also made a presentation at the seminar, lauded the efforts of the Private Sector for what he describes as good corporate citizenship.
Rohee said that over the years the Chamber of Commerce has been a strong supporter of the ideas of fire prevention and its Chairman, Mr. Clinton Urling, has made a significant contribution. The Minister pointed out that not only has the Chamber been making contributions to the Fire Advisory Board but it has also been integrally involved in policy making.
According to the Minister, it is the public’s perception that his Ministry is more focused on Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Prison Service, but this is not the case.
“The challenges that the Guyana Fire Service face are peculiar to the challenges of the other two organizations, but these challenges are being dealt with, with an aim of correcting them.”
To this end, the Minister said that efforts will be made to have more public relations done for the Guyana Fire Service since a lot is being done within and for that organization.
“Daily we see articles about these organizations in the news, but one needs to be fair while they seek to highlight the negatives, they should also highlight the positives as we are seeing developments.”
Rohee further pointed out that only recently officers from the Guyana Fire Service and a team from his Ministry were on a retreat where discussions were held about the challenges and the way forward.
“Over the two days we came up with a number of recommendations and action to be taken, and this will constitute part of the action plan for this year and onwards of the Guyana Fire Service.” Rohee concluded by opining that the Fire Prevention Seminar should be emulated by other sectors.
Also yesterday, the winners of the Fire Advisory Board School’s Essay Competition were presented with their prizes. The competition was held during July and September of last year and was run under two age categories – 10-13 and 14-16. Several schools participated, with the following persons being announced as the winners in each category: 10-13 age group: Regina Lynch -St Margaret’s Primary, Talisha Rawlins – Success Elementary, Aaliyah Seeram – Success Primary; 14-16 category: Marian Khan – St. Stanislaus College, Akshaya Bankay – St Stanislaus College and Alisha Singh – St. Stanislaus College.
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