03 Apr 2023

Significance of staff development cannot be overemphasised as it plays a critical role in skills development and staff retention, Gaborone city mayor has said. Mayor, Mr Austin Abraham said this at a fire fighters graduation ceremony in Gaborone recently.

“This therefore, is a call for us to continue to invest in human resource development,” Mr Abraham said. He said that the fire department was one of the critical and essential organisations as it played a pivotal role in ensuring safety of the community of Gaborone and surrounding areas.

He appreciated the growth of the department as it strived towards excellence adding resultantly investors would have confidence in safety of their property from fire and other disasters.

For her part, deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ms Tebogo Bagopi highlighted the importance of firefighting, saying it was imperative to appreciate dedication and acknowledge the sacrifice by fire fighters in ensuring the safety of the community.

“This programme was to equip firefighters with management skills… from here they will be tasked with the responsibility to lead their subordinates, therefore congratulations to the graduates,” Ms Bagopi said.

She also commended Gaborone City Council (GCC) leadership for enrolling officers into the junior management course, saying that would greatly enhance their ability to deal with an increasing number of complex rescue operations.

The class of 2022 firefighters comprised 17 graduates who were advancing from an eight-week leading fireman course, designed to equip and introduce them to fire management skills. ENDS