Helicopter use in fire fighting will be adopted only in major cities - minister

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INNOCENT-THE BLOGGER-BOY

Home Affairs Deputy Minister Pereira Silima

 The government is to adopt the use of helicopters in fire fighting and rescue missions to better serve unplanned settlement areas in the nation’s major cities, the National Assembly was told yesterday.

 

Home Affairs Deputy Minister Pereira Silima told the House that there has been a challenge of reaching victims in time due to congestion of vehicles and houses brought about by unplanned settlements.

 

“Therefore, we are working on the possibility of using helicopters to reach the emergency areas,” he said.

 

Silima was responding to a supplementary question raised by Stone Town MP Muhammad Ibrahim Sanya (CUF), who advised the government to use helicopters in fighting fire accidents instead of using vehicles which arrive at the scene very late due to traffic.

 

Sanya complained that most firefighting vehicles arrive late at the scene of emergencies and asked the government to provide one helicopter for each region to address the challenge.

 

Responding, the deputy minister told the House that due to the limited budget, the government cannot provide a helicopter for each region but for starters, it will do so for major cities such as Dar es Salaam, the nation’s most congested city.

 

Silima also explained away concerns over slow response of firefighters saying the firefighters get information late because the victims fail to call the appropriate authorities.

 

“The delay is sometimes caused by people who   call police in case of fire accidents instead of calling directly to the fire and rescue department,” the deputy minister said.

 

In the came vein, Special Seat MP Fakharia Shomar Khamis (CUF) raised the matter of public awareness on emergency numbers.

 

“Most of the public do not have knowledge about the fire rescue force as a result they report to police in case of fire outbreaks,” he said to which Silima agreed but did not offer a solution as to how the government will increase public awareness of the same.

 

The deputy minister told the parliament that the fires rescue force is the only organ to receive all information related to fire accidents in the country.

 

Silima has also warned some peoples who call firefighting and reporting false information, Silima said they are installing a digital device which will identify those who misuse the fire extinguish line and they will take legal action to them.