Fire unit grapples with poor funding
What you need to know:
- In the Lake Zone, the hilly landscape has not made it any easier for the Fire and Rescue Force to put out fires. “We don’t have modern firefighting equipment. What we are currently using is outdated,” a fireman, who asked not to be named, told The Citizen.
Mwanza. The spate of fire outbreaks over the past few months has exposed worrying levels of unpreparedness to deal with such emergencies. Lives have also been lost while families have suddenly found themselves homeless.
In the Lake Zone, the hilly landscape has not made it any easier for the Fire and Rescue Force to put out fires. “We don’t have modern firefighting equipment. What we are currently using is outdated,” a fireman, who asked not to be named, told The Citizen.
The lack of adequate tools has been a problem for a long time. Some officials of the Force in the region say their operations are heavily under-funded.
In January, the Force’s Commissioner-General Mr Pius Nyambacha appealed for more funding. He told the then Home Affairs minister Charles Kitwanga that operations were crippled due to the lack of funds.
He said the Force had not received any development funds from the ministry over the last five years.
Home Affairs deputy minister Hamadi Yusuf Masauni, who recently met with representatives of the Force in the Lake Zone expressed concerns over the lack of equipment, but fell short of telling the fire fighters to make do with what they have.
