Residents in South Sudan’s Yei town are appealing to officials from the fire brigade unit to conduct awareness programs as the dry season sets in characterized by heavy winds and fire outbreaks both in urban and rural parts of Yei town.
Residents said the fire bridge unit is not making maximum use of the available radio stations to educate the public about fires and electricity in residential areas.
“The fire bridge officials and the police have been silent about educating people on the dangers of fire more especially at this dry season and we demand the fire bridge unit to be actively talking to the public about fires at the peak of the dry season,” said Moses Wol a resident in Yei Lomuku neighborhood.
Medina Monday another resident of the Hai Peace area says, “I am calling on the government to go to the radio stations and talk to the people about the dangers of misuse of fire and I am equally calling on my fellow residents to clean up their surroundings so that they are not engulfed by fire. let parents also keep their children out of reach of fires.”
Monowa Aligo acting director of Yei fire defense unit confirmed his office lacks financial resources to conduct civic education on the misuse of fire during the dry season.
“Many people know our challenges and we need fire extinguishers and firefighting trucks and this is very important for our smooth operations. We also call on car users to have fire extinguishers and this is what we want the public to know,” he added.
“The public should understand the dangers of fire, once the fire is not in use it has to be put off completely and also to the people using the town electricity let them take control. People should not risk storing petrol in the rooms because it is dangerous to your life and your households,” he cautioned.