Over US $1m needed for fire risk management

THE government requires at least US $ 1 million for a fire risk management system. This was revealed during a three-day training seminar aimed at creating awareness and change of mindset with regard to fire prevention. The workshop’s facilitator, Ignatius Mugabo, said that the fund would help in building fire risk management systems, buying equipment and obtaining training centres for the first phase. “Fire outbreaks are a preventable risk. Focusing on preventing fire is needed in this phase,” Mugabo, who is also head of the Rwandan Diaspora in the UK ,said. “Phase two would require high level equipments like helicopters and aerial platform fire fighting vehicles”. “Governments need to lay a lot of emphasis on fire safety management instead of responding to fires that are already blazing. They also need to build enough capacity to respond to fire incidents,” he added. He also advised that at least every police station in Rwanda should have two mobile 90-litre fire extinguishers for effectiveness. The training was organized by a UK-based fire safety management company, MUGOLDS International as well as the the Ministry of Disaster Management. Wayne Clark, the Operations Consultant at MUGOLDS, said it was not too late for Rwanda to establish and develop a fire safety management system. “Rwanda is really a forward-thinking country, so it needs to set up a system which can reduce fire risks,” Clark said. The head of the Disaster Management Task Force, Commissioner of Police Cyprien Gatete, told The Sunday Times that the training was needed. He added that the government had taken the issue of fire safety management very seriously, further stating that anything that jeopardises public property needs to be stopped. “We intend to continue working with MUGOLDS International or any other group that can help our country have a better fire safety management system,” Gatete said yesterday. Ends