Fire Departments Received Critical Equipment Donation
The National Fire Service is the recipient of a generous donation of equipment from the United States Government. This morning, U.S. Ambassador Carlos Moreno was on hand for the delegation of the items which include over two hundred flame retardant suits. The initiative, says Ambassador Moreno, is part of a wider effort to increase disaster preparedness in parts of the country.
Carlos Moreno, U.S. Ambassador to Belize
“The donation includes over two hundred fire resistant uniforms as you can see. We also have sets of the Jaws of Life that are able to rescue people from collapsed buildings and collapsed automobiles. Claws that are able to cut through heavy metal, radios and other communication equipment, gas detection devices, portable water pumps and the lights so the actual list we can get for you but the way that the project works is that we ask what is most needed by the Fire Service and we see if we can meet those demands and that is what we have done here.”
Reporter
“Do you have any idea of the value of it?”
Carlos Moreno
Carlos Moreno
“The value is over one point seven eight million Belizean dollars, that is quite a substantial sum, only yesterday we also donated through Southcom a community center and disaster relief center that cost about eight hundred thousand Belizean dollars. So within the space of two days you are looking at two million Belizean dollars through this humanitarian assistance program.
Reporter
“Can you talk about any other pending projects exchange programs that are happening between Belize and the U.S.?
Carlos Moreno
“Yes, I am very happy to elate that in about a month or so we will be dedicating a new classroom structure in Maya Mopan in Belmopan of a four classrooms in a school that has grown tremendously in the past few years, in addition I visited the construction site up in Orange Walk of a emergency disaster relief center so we have about six or seven projects that have been approved and are in different stages of completion but those are the two that come most to mind right now, the classroom building in Maya Mopan and the disaster relief operation center in Orange Walk.”
