Ministry of Local Government and Public Works Minister Hon. D Garwe has hailed the partnership between Bulawayo City and Operation Florian, a United Kingdom based firefighting charity Organization in training local fighters, a move that will go a long way in dealing with outbreak of fires.
Hon Garwe spoke after touring the Bulawayo Fires Station in Famona, Bulawayo, this morning.
He said as Zimbabwe marches towards achieving Vision 2030, it was pleasing that some local authorities were tapping knowledge from organizations from developed nations.
”I understand Operation Florian is bringing new skills in firefighting. This will ultimately improve service delivery in our cities,” he said.
The organization has over the years also donated firefighting equipment from the UK organization.
Hon Garwe said Bulawayo must be the training hub for fire fighters across the country as it was the country’s industrial hub.
The council is also training fire fighters from 21 local authorities from the Southern region in the operation of fire tenders that were purchased by the Government from Belarus under the Devolution fund.
The tour was also attended by the Deputy Minister of Local Government Hon T Mavunga, representatives from Operation Florian and city council officials.
Hon Garwe, who is also Vice-Chair of the Cabinet Committee on State Occasions, spoke after a tour of the main venues to host delegates to the independence celebrations, said he was satisfied that the ministry would meet its target on time for the main event- the first national event of this nature to be held in Gokwe North.