26 May 2013

Chobe district council chairman, Mr Mwanota Kachana has called for community involvement in fire management.

"Without active participation, the country will fail in its efforts to manage fires economically and effectively."

Speaking at the second fire management conference in Kasane, Mr Kachana said the meeting was aimed to create awareness on the proposed national fire management strategy and deepen stakeholder roles and responsibilities.

Mr Kachana said the conference seeks to gauge preparedness levels for 2013 and provide the Department of Forestry and Range Resources with baseline data to provide accurate information on the preparedness of managing fires.

He said since the signing of the agreement between Australia and Botswana in 2009, it was the first time the head of New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSWRFS) Commissioner, Mr Shane Fitzsimmons had visited the country.

Under the program, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSWRFS) has provided Botswana with a range of technical assistance, fire fighting equipment and training of Department of Forestry and Range Resources fire fighters. 

He mentioned that the MoU came in to being after Botswana experienced the worst fire season in 2008.

The situation, he highlighted, was severe in both the extent of areas burnt and geographical distribution with all the districts burning simultaneously. 

“The unprecedented fire situation placed a huge demand on both the human and financial resources to the extent that the nation was stretched beyond its coping capacity.

It was then that Botswana requested the assistance from SADC and the international community which saw the New South Wales Rural Fire Services of Australia sending two fire experts to undertake a scoping mission in February 2009”, he said.

Recently, Australia government approved a new funding of P4.1million for the next two year phase of the programme aimed at helping Botswana to develop an effective fire management system. 

The Australian High Commissioner to Botswana, Mr Graeme Wilson also recently donated protective fire clothing worth P530 000 to Botswana.

The NSWRFS assistance through its head mission, he said, included 400 pieces of personal protective equipment, adding that several courses had been conducted such as basic fire management, training trainers, crew leaders, incident command system, media and community engagement and fire investigation.

“It is highly beneficial for each district to know how many people are trained in fire suppression techniques, what level of training fire fighters have attained and where fighters are placed,” he said.

A fire expert, Mr Rick Davies from New South Wales Rural Fire Bridge-Australia said fire managers in Botswana should all aggressively engage communities by reviving spirit of volunteerism as well as developing community based fire management programmers.

Mr Andrew Macdonald, one of the volunteers from Australia said Batswana should protect their land for the future generations with or without financial resources. ENDS