Committee looking at management of hydrants
Stabroek News
January 3, 2004
A meeting was held yesterday morning to look at establishing terms of reference for the committee set up to examine the management of fire hydrants, Minister of Housing and Water, Shaik Baksh, said.
He made this disclosure at a press conference yesterday at the GTV 11 studios, Homestretch Avenue.
In the wake of two major fires in Georgetown, there has been uncertainty as to which agency has responsibility for the installation and maintenance of hydrants. Many of these devices in the city are not working and this caused the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) to resort to accessing water from the Demerara River in both of the fires, which occurred six weeks apart.
The Guyana Water Inc (GWI) has said that the hydrants do not fall under its purview, but the GFS says it is responsible just for checking the hydrants and reporting on their status to the GWI.
Baksh said yesterday that he is to receive a report from the committee at the end of its deliberations. "We have to resolve the responsibility for fire hydrants," he said.
He is hoping that a quick-response mechanism would be set up after the committee finishes its work.
The meeting included personnel from the GFS, the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the GWI and the Guyana Power and Light.