Georgetown: The Home Affairs Ministry has finally laid out the 2014-2019 Strategic Plan for the Guyana Fire Service (GFS). Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee announced the completion of the strategic plan recently and said the GFS has grown tremendously, with the improvement of equipment and the number of fire stations that have been established across the country.
The Strategic Plan, which gained Cabinet’s approval, is expected to improve the services of the GFS drastically. Emphasis is not only being placed on infrastructure, but also on the training of field and administrative officers, so that the entity can be managed more effectively and with proper legislation.
The 2014-2019 GFS Strategic Plan has outlined seven goals that the GFS will be working towards for the next five years, each with their deadlines fixed within the next five years.
The first target to be met is “… the end of 2015. The GFS will have an organisation structure, which is flexible, clearly defines roles and responsibilities, delineates technical staff from administrative support staff and is responsive to the demands of the GFS’ mission and vision statements.”
Basically this would involve a decentralisation of authority and responsibilities, while making the services of the GFS more accessible, as seen with the addition of 16 new fire stations and five auxiliary units in Port Kaituma and Mabaruma, North West District; Kwakani, Region 10; Mahdia, Region Eight and Lethem, Region Nine. The establishment of the Leonora Fire Station will also facilitate organisation and the delineation of duties.
Minister Rohee had informed that “for the first time in its history, the Guyana Fire Service now has a purpose built training facility to cater for the training needs of its members.”
He explained that the facility can seat 75 persons and facilitates both technical and administrative training. This training facility will be commissioned later this month.
For the second goal, the behaviour of the GFS staff is given priority.
The strategic plan details the core principles of the fire service, so as to motivate officers to embrace and embody them in their work ethos.The new vision of the GFS is expected to be fully embraced.
In an effort to facilitate this, an ‘A-Team Building Strategy’ will be implemented to train the officers in this mindset and incentives are already on the agenda to inculcate dedication and improved performance levels on the job.
Nevertheless, performance will be targeted specifically in the third goal of the Strategic Plan. All staff members under the fire service are encouraged to be a part of regular consultation exercises, which are expected to be fully implemented by 2019. This will keep officers informed on new firefighting technologies, thus facilitating and boosting performance as well.
Performance levels will be graded annually and steps taken to improve the performance levels of the following years.
The importance of collaborations and alliances are highlighted in the fourth goal, where agreements with entities will be fostered so as to facilitate the efficient running of the fire service in its duties. One such entity is the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) which enables better access to waterways or water sources in areas that may prove difficult.
Within this bracket, by 2017 a standard stakeholders consultation to keep interested parties abreast of what’s being done within the fire service as well as the status of the five-year plan will be initiated.
For the fifth goal on the GFS 2014-2019 Strategic Plan, the Home Affairs Ministry will have improved on the infrastructure of the fire services’ work environment by 2019. The plan details that it will be making the work space of the officers a lot more conducive for the technical job that they do, using the many advancements in technology to facilitate the process while enhancing the infrastructural landscape of the fire service.
Technology also plays a role in the sixth goal on the strategic plan. Recognising that technology has improved the way things are done, the GFS aims to implement a fully operational networking system for all fire stations and also the streamlining of the institution’s records to ensure faster access to information about any outbound fire station by the end of the 2019.
The last goal on the GFS Strategic Plan is the modernisationa and harmonisation of Guyana’s legislation, which will produce laws to suit the contemporary functioning of the GFS. By 2018, various levels of such legislation are expected to be implemented.
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