The Guyana Defence Force used its helicopter and a recently acquired bambi bucket today to assist with the dousing of the fire at the sawmill dumpsite at Amelia’s Ward in Linden, one day after the situation was declared a disaster by the Guyana Government. The fire has been burning for the past week.

Prime Minister Mark Phillips, who visited the scene yesterday, told the community radio station in Linden that while the fire has been largely contained, work still has to be done to minimize further spread and eliminate smoke from the area.

He stated that a number of agencies have been working together to return the situation there to normalcy.

“What we are going to do now is continue our efforts to suppress the smoke, because the smoke is affecting the people who live in proximity to the location of the fire, so from government standpoint, we treat this as a disaster, a manmade disaster not a natural disaster but nevertheless it was a disaster,” the Prime Minister noted.

The Guyana Fire Service is yet to determine the cause of the fire, but in the meantime the Civil Defence Commission, the GDF, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other stakeholders including the sawmill owners are supporting the efforts to ensure that fire around that zone which contains about ten sawmills remain at bay.

Further, the Prime Minister said, the Government will spare no effort in bringing relief to affected citizens as soon as possible.

“The work is ongoing, we have effectively contained the fire and we have already started pouring water in the water because the water is used to suppress the effect of the smoke and eventually outing the fire so we have already made some decisions on the ground and GWI is onboard, the fire service and the sawmill operators, so they will be trucking and pouring water over the area, “the Prime Minister explained.

Meanwhile, Director General of the Civil Defence Commission, (CDC) retired Colonel Nazrul Hussain, noted that due to the impact of the fire, the CDC has identified several shelters in the region for persons to stay until normalcy returns. However, he noted that persons were reluctant to move citing security concerns and opt to remain in their homes.

“We are still working with the community, since Friday we noted a reluctance with them to evacuate because of security and safety measures but we are encouraging them but we are encouraging them that because school is out children should move to other areas during the day,” the CDC director noted.

The Prime Minister said if the smoke situation worsens, then persons will have to evacuate the area until the situation is completely under control.

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