Council gets $1m fire-fighting equipment

and equipment, worth more than $1 million to the Bulawayo City Council.However, the fire engines and equipment are still at the Beitbridge Border Post awaiting clearance.

 

The group is also conducting a two-week fire-fighting training course for the city.
BCC invited other local authorities — Beitbridge, Lupane, Gwanda, Hwange, Plumtree, Victoria Falls and Gweru — and the Zimbabwe National Army and Civil

Aviation Authority, to take part in the training course.
The training started on Sunday at Bulawayo’s Famona Fire Station and would end early next month with a conference.
The training is meant to assist BCC to develop its fire stations and awareness and at the same time help other local authorities set up their own fire stations and fire brigade teams.

It is not the first time the group has donated to the city, as last year they donated a fire tender and fire-fighting equipment worth more than $700 000.
The donations and visits by the team were organised by Mr Shephard Ndlovu (34), who was a fireman in Bulawayo between 1994 and 1997 and now a senior lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire.
Yesterday, the Operation Florian team, led by chairman Mr Michael Doherty, led BCC fire-fighters who are undergoing training through drills at the Famona Fire Station.

Mr Doherty said as much as they were assisting with training, they were also learning from the city of Bulawayo as the local authority had upped its fire awareness activities.

“This is a follow-up to our last year’s visit which was successful as we work with the University of Central Lancashire. As an organisation we are prepared to assist the city with skills and this is a continuation process where we have an exchange of ideas,” he said.
Speaking during the tour of the fire station, council public relations officer Mrs Nesisa Mpofu commended the team for the training relationship it has with the council.

“We would want to thank Operation Florian for what they are doing. We have a sister-to-sister relationship with the City of Aberdeen and we get a lot from them not only materially but also personnel. We are grateful about that. We thank those from outside Bulawayo as well who came to learn with and from us,” she said.

Addressing the group in the council chambers on Monday, the city’s Mayor, Councillor Thaba Moyo, said it was important for cities in the country to develop and nurture relationships with foreign partners in development as they helped to develop the country.
“As Bulawayo, we are delighted with our relationship with Operation Florian. I think it is important for Government to also understand the importance of this partnership, which is a two-way process. They visit us and we should also visit them. The benefits will serve Bulawayo and the whole country by removing pressure on strained national resources,” said Clr Moyo.

He said Bulawayo was the centre of Matabeleland’s civic protection activities and any improvement in its ability to react to disasters benefited the region.
Clr Moyo also thanked Mr Ndlovu for remembering the city from his base in UK, adding that he was pleased that some of the group’s members were from Aberdeen,

Bulawayo’s twin city.

Also speaking during the same occasion, Bulawayo’s chamber secretary Mrs Sikhangele Zhou, said the partnership enabled the city to learn new fire-fighting technologies and exchange notes with international experts on the subject.
“We are grateful for this donation, which comes at a time when our own capital budget could not finance the purchase of the much needed machinery,” said Mrs Zhou.

Operation Florian chairman, Mr Doherty, of Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, paid tribute to Mr Ndlovu for uplifting his former city.
“Shephard is a fantastic statesman for the country who has a vision for Bulawayo. We hope to work with Bulawayo for a long time to come,” said Mr Doherty.
In a vote of thanks, the Town Clerk, Mr Middleton Nyoni, said the city needed to strengthen its relationships with twin cities and Operation Florian to continue developing.

The 14-member UK delegation is scheduled to visit the country’s premier tourist attraction and seventh wonder of the world, the Victoria Falls, before returning home.

Operation Florian was founded as a charity in 1995 and was conceived after the Bosnian and Croatian war had damaged most of the two countries’ fire-fighting equipment and vehicles beyond repair.

It is named after the patron saint of fire-fighters and was created after fire-fighters witnessed a major fire which destroyed large amounts of forest and buildings because of lack of fire-fighting resources at hand.

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