Goya calls for privatisation of fire and emergency services
Bonte Seepi | Tuesday April 25, 2017 16:48
Officiating at the graduation ceremony of 38 fire fighters over the weekend, Goya called upon private companies to help the Government run other departments.
“The time has come for the Government to privatise some of the services such as this department. I don’t see any harm in that, and I even call upon the private sector to help the Government with the burden it has been carrying since Independence,” he said.
Goya, who is also the MP for Palapye urged the graduates to be effective in their job since they provide a very important service of saving people’s lives from fire disasters.
He told the newly appointed fire marshals to build good relationships with other stakeholders in order to ease their job. He said they must attend kgotla meetings and visit schools to educate the community and children about fire and its dangers.
“Some fires are self-inflicted; one can just cause fire for personal reasons like in order to claim money from insurance companies. That is why it is very vital to work with other stakeholders like the police and hospitals for easy tackling of such issues,” he said.
Furthermore, Goya said Palapye is a very dynamic settlement which is experiencing rapid growth and newly constructed buildings must be inspected to ensure that they adhere to fire regulations.
Head of Fire Services (Central District), Whitfield Joshua said during the eight weeks of training, the firefighters embarked upon a full module on hazardous materials and awareness since their job is a serious and dangerous one, which requires such indepth knowledge.
Joshua also said they are unable to adequately cover all communities due to lack of equipment and facilities.
On his part, councillor for Morupule Ward, Jordan Makhura, asked for the improvement of training saying they should be taught a bit of law because in other incidents they could be required to give evidence in Court and write statements.