Donation of new vehicle lifts spirit of Alotau fire officers

ALOTAU Fire Station officers are encouraged by a new vehicle given to them to help with their work.
Administrator Michael Kapo said the provincial government and the district authority had established a strong working relationship with the fire station and on a request by the station commander, funding was made available to purchase a new 10-seater Toyota Land Cruiser.
Kapo said the province saw the importance of fire service response unit to go hand in hand with the growth and development taking place in Alotau.
The vehicle would help the Fire Service to respond to road accident rescues and other emergencies.
Chief fire officer Bill Roo, who went to witness and receive the keys on behalf of the Alotau Fire Station, said officers were grateful for such partnership, thanks to the provincial administration.
Roo said the way ahead for fire stations around the country was to be better equipped and prepared to respond to fire and other emergencies.
“This is by establishing partnerships through a memorandum of understanding with respective provincial governments to share operational costs and needs of the fire stations,” Roo said.
“The Fire Service annual budget is not enough to cater for all the fire stations and we are doing our best to manage the little funds given to us.
“I urge other provincial governments to come on board and help us maintain their respective fire stations.
“We have so far establish a MoU with the Chimbu provincial government to establish a new fire station and we are in dialogue with Manus, Kimbe and Enga provincial governments to have new stations built to expand our service in the country.”