A firefighters’ training college being built in Guyana is expected to offer cheaper and high quality training, officials said Monday.
The announcement was made Monday at the opening of a meeting of the Caribbean Association of Fire Fighters (CAFF).
Guyana’s Fire Chief, Marlon Gentle said the training facility is being built on a four-acre plot of land aback Leonora Fire Station, West Coast Demerara. The estimated GUY0 million project would include a firefighting simulator, buildings for classrooms, accommodation, messing, library and trainers.
Currently, trainees travel to Canada, United States and Britain or trainers from those countries are hired to teach firefighters in selected Caribbean countries.
While more Guyanese personnel would have to become instructor-qualified, Gentle assured that the training college will not require additional equipment.
“Basically, you train off of what you have. The resources are there. It’s the same equipment that you would be using in the fields that you would be using for training so there will be no real big issue of looking at separate equipment for training,” he said
The Guyana Fire Service intends to use the facility to train fire fighters from sister Caribbean countries but, according to Gentle, revenue projections from such a venture are yet to be done.
CAFF President, Alex Bynoe says now that the two-year old idea of a firefighters training college is being realized, Caribbeancountries are poised to take advantage of the opportunity.
Bynoe, who is the President of the Barbados Fire Service Association, pointed out that one of the attractions is the fact that it would be cheaper for firefighters to pursue training here rather than in the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom.
“I’m not sure what it would cost the Guyana Fire Service but I know the cost factor for the rest of the region will be a lot less and it’s best for the region where we can have our own training instructors who would have gone overseas over the years and come back and impart the same training,” said Bynoe, who is a Leading Fire Officer.
The Guyanese Fire Chief, however, noted that with the establishment of firefighting schools, the Caribbean should push for a region-wide accreditation system like those in North America, United Kingdom and other European countries.
“There is talk about formulating that policy so you would have maybe two to three years down the line some level of Caribbean accreditation so when a man leaves here and he has a certificate as a trained firefighter with a Caribbean accreditation, it’s recognized,” he added.
