TWENTY-TWO local firefighters will undergo follow-up training on fire and disaster risk reduction organised by the National Fire Authority (NFA) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), to ensure their preparedness for a natural phenomenon.
JICA Resident Representative Hiroyuki Sawada said training firefighters was an important component for capacity building and the five-day training would provide an opportunity for NFA to develop a collaborative process towards disaster response, incorporating both rescue and relief in any emergency.
“As part of the program, you will be trained on disaster risk reduction since natural disasters, including floods, cyclones and earthquakes, have immediate impacts on human health and secondary impacts causing further deaths or suffering from floods, landslides, fires and tsunamis,” he said.
“I understand there were 147 structural fires and seven fire deaths in Fiji in 2016 and 20 structural fires so far in 2017. This is indeed alarming statistics.”
Fire-fighting experts from Kitakyushu City, Japan, will conduct the training, adding on to the 30 years of friendship between the organisations.
NFA’s acting chief executive officer Milieta Seniroqa acknowledged the collaborative efforts by stakeholders.
