SPEECH BY MINISTER CHARLES E. FONSEKA, MINISTER OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, ON THE OCCASION OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE ANSE ROYALE FIRE STATION,
Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ted Barbe
Member of the National Assembly, Hon. Sylvianne Lemiel
Chief Fire Officer of the Seychelles Fire& Rescue Services Agency, Ms. Tally Domingue
Management and Staff of Seychelles Fire& Rescue Services Agency
Ladies and Gentlemen
Today, we recognize and honour our Firefighters, for their sustained commitment towards ’Living the life of a Firefighter.’ This is what this special day means. International Firefighter’s Day is about recognizing the ‘life of a Firefighter’.
And it needs no explanation. We all know, and have experienced and seen them go into action. And they do so without complaining. With full understanding of the dangers that they place themselves in. On each task, they are prepared to step onto this ‘life-threatening zone,’ at any moment and time, to ensure that their communities and environment are safe.
And they do so with optimism and confidence of a trained Firefighter. They will find a way and get the job done. This is what Firefighters do. No mission is too hard for those men and women.
So annually, on the 4th of May all around the world, we pay tribute to Firefighters.
And what better occasion than today, for the inauguration of the Anse Royal Fire Station.
The Anse Royale Fire Station fulfills the Strategic objective of the Seychelles Fire and Rescue Services Agency, to bring its services closer to the communities that it serves. We are yet to achieve this goal nationally, and we can only progress within our budget allocations.
Nonetheless, our communities are continuously developing, and building designs are always changing, with more commercial and industrial buildings, challenges have evolved in respect to fire hazards.
In order to continue to keep Seychelles safe, the SFRSA must keep up with the trends and continue to upgrade its capabilities. It must have the ability to respond to fire incidents quickly and effectively, and this new Fire Station will ensure that SFRSA maintains prompt and effective delivery of emergency services today, and in the future.
The station has all the facilities that is required of a modern fire station. With two new Fire Tenders received in December 2022 on its fleet.
I take the opportunity today, to congratulate and thank the team that planned and implemented this project from the beginning. From the signing of the contract for the construction works in March 2020, to the start of construction on the 07th of April 2020 and to its completion in November 2021. Despite a six months’ delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this very important project was finally completed and handed over to the SFRSA on the 08th of April, 2022 and came into operation on the 12th of January, 2023.
I also want to make special mention to the former Chief Fire Officer Albert Rose and Deputy Chief Fire Officer Regis Bethew, both retired from the service now, but who undoubtedly played a very important part in making all of this possible today.
To Chief Fire Officer Domingue and her team, congratulations on the achievement of this very important milestone for the SFRSA, and well done in making it all happen.
To all our brave firefighters, I thank you all. From disaster preparedness, to medical response, Lifeguard Service, serving as educators, you do a lot of behind-the-scenes work to keep our communities safe. We recognize you and appreciate you. Keep up the good work.
To conclude, I wish you all a Happy International Fire Fighter’s Day and have great pleasure in declaring the Anse Royale Fire Station officially open.
I Thank you.