09 Aug 2018

Kanye Administration Authority chairperson, Mr Tlhomamo Dibeela has hailed government for its resolve to establish a fire department office with a staff compliment of seven and accompanying fire engines in Kanye. For years on end, councillors had, during full council meetings, demanded that a fully-fledged fire department be set up in Kanye. 

They premised their argument on the fact that Gaborone, Lobatse and Jwaneng, where they sourced fire services in the past, were distant and therefore could not offer rapid response in case fire broke out. On Wednesday, Mr Dibeela, who is also a Councillor for Dilolwe Ward, hailed government for having heeded to their plight of many years. 

“We are very excited that finally government found it fit to listen to our request and establish the fire department in the last two years or so,” he said in an interview. 

The elated KAA chairperson said further that already the council had provided temporary accommodation for the department pending allocation of a permanent plot where all necessary infrastructure for the fire station would be erected. 

The upbeat councillor said between January and August this year, the fire station had dealt with a total of 29 cases of inferno, mainly within Kanye built up area. He said however that there were no casualties recorded in all the fires. He said live electrical appliances such as irons as well as heating elements that were left unattended to by users caused most of the fires. 

Thatwithstanding, Mr Dibeela appealed to Batswana to report fires as and when they break out  to toll free number 998 instead of trying to quell them by themselves first and only calling for assistance when it was already too late. 

The department, he stated was not only confined to putting out fires but provided other rescue operation services such as in road accidents. 

He remained hopeful that the ongoing naming and mapping of the streets exercise in Kanye would help greatly improve the department’s response to just under eight minutes. BOPA