The over $10 million Rose Hall Town Fire Station was formally commissioned and handed over to Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee in a ceremony described as long overdue.
Speaking at the handing-over ceremony, Imran Hamid, President of the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce said he was happy that the fire station was now a reality as he had been anxious to hand over the keys to the Minister of Home Affairs, since it was long overdue.
According to Rose Hall Town Council Interim Management Committee Chairman Baijnauth Sumra, it was the resilience of those tasked with putting up the Fire Station that brought the project thus far, and while the government has its part to do, “we as citizens have our part to do as well”.
Bhigroog Poonai, the immediate past president of the chamber, said that they have stood and watched millions of dollars go up in flames owing to the lack of a fire station and “a lot of effort has been expended in this project”.
He said that the President of Guyana, a few years ago, had promised to donate an engine if the chamber could come up with a building. The building was erected and the engine granted, and Poonai took the opportunity to extend the chamber’s gratitude to all the donors – large and small. The building, he said, cost over $10 million.
Chief Fire Officer Marlon Gentle, who was also in attendance, welcomed the gesture by the chamber and stated that the fire service will now be in a better position “to provide coverage to the residents of Central Corentyne”.
Minister Rohee, delivering the feature address, said that this is an entirely positive development in this part of the country, and that it is a manifestation of the good partnership between the government and the private sector.
Among the things worth knowing, he said, was that this was the first fire station to be built by the private sector and handed over to the government.
And for the first time in 30 years, he said, there is an auxiliary branch of the fire service in action, with members of the community (volunteer fire fighters) coming forward to give back to their community.
