Gayaza, Lohana, acquire
Apr 22, 2008
GAYAZA High School and Lohana Academy have been trained on how to respond to fire outbreaks. The schools’ old fire extinguishing gadgets were replaced with new ones and safety signage on school premises to keep reminding them of how to react to fire outbreaks.
By Tony Barigye
GAYAZA High School and Lohana Academy have been trained on how to respond to fire outbreaks. The schools’ old fire extinguishing gadgets were replaced with new ones and safety signage on school premises to keep reminding them of how to react to fire outbreaks.
The sh21m exercise was conducted by Lion Assurance in a campaign to promote fire safety in schools.
The exercise comes on the heels of a gruesome tragedy, in which 20 pupils of Budo Junior School in Wakiso district, were burnt to death and property destroyed when fire gutted a girls’ dormitory.
During the hand-over of the fire-fighting equipment at Lohana, Geoffrey Kihuguru, the managing director of Lion Assurance, said findings from a probe done on some schools in August 2007 revealed that “the schools had experienced a fire outbreak before and had purchased some fire extinguishers but most extinguishers were empty and needed refilling and regular service.â€
Lion Assurance is an insurance company providing non-life insurance services in Uganda.
Araali Kusemererwa, the commissioner for pre-primary and primary education at the Ministry of Education and Sports, presided over the hand-over.
Kusemererwa said the inferno at Budo was a wake-up call to the country to safeguard against fires. “Buildings should have safety exits. Not even hospitals or homes have these exits,†he said.
He advised that another way to prevent deaths was for buildings to be used for their proper purposes. “A classroom can’t be used as a dormitory.†He also warned school administrators against exceeding the maximum number of occupancy. He said: “Fire detectors should be installed to detect smoke, teach on how to manage fire and avoid sleeping with inflammable materials.â€
William Mukasa, a fire health and safety consultant partnering with Lion Assurance, said the fire extinguishers require annual servicing.
“The shelf life of the chemical after the due period is not more than one year. The chemical will have solidified and nothing will come out,†Mukasa said.
Kihuguru called on the Ministry of Education to help in the awareness campaign.
“It will be impossible to cover all the schools and we are appealing to the Ministry of Education to initiate a programme that will ensure that all schools, through a private sector initiative, are availed with information and assistance.â€
GAYAZA High School and Lohana Academy have been trained on how to respond to fire outbreaks. The schools’ old fire extinguishing gadgets were replaced with new ones and safety signage on school premises to keep reminding them of how to react to fire outbreaks.
The sh21m exercise was conducted by Lion Assurance in a campaign to promote fire safety in schools.
The exercise comes on the heels of a gruesome tragedy, in which 20 pupils of Budo Junior School in Wakiso district, were burnt to death and property destroyed when fire gutted a girls’ dormitory.
During the hand-over of the fire-fighting equipment at Lohana, Geoffrey Kihuguru, the managing director of Lion Assurance, said findings from a probe done on some schools in August 2007 revealed that “the schools had experienced a fire outbreak before and had purchased some fire extinguishers but most extinguishers were empty and needed refilling and regular service.â€
Lion Assurance is an insurance company providing non-life insurance services in Uganda.
Araali Kusemererwa, the commissioner for pre-primary and primary education at the Ministry of Education and Sports, presided over the hand-over.
Kusemererwa said the inferno at Budo was a wake-up call to the country to safeguard against fires. “Buildings should have safety exits. Not even hospitals or homes have these exits,†he said.
He advised that another way to prevent deaths was for buildings to be used for their proper purposes. “A classroom can’t be used as a dormitory.†He also warned school administrators against exceeding the maximum number of occupancy. He said: “Fire detectors should be installed to detect smoke, teach on how to manage fire and avoid sleeping with inflammable materials.â€
William Mukasa, a fire health and safety consultant partnering with Lion Assurance, said the fire extinguishers require annual servicing.
“The shelf life of the chemical after the due period is not more than one year. The chemical will have solidified and nothing will come out,†Mukasa said.
Kihuguru called on the Ministry of Education to help in the awareness campaign.
“It will be impossible to cover all the schools and we are appealing to the Ministry of Education to initiate a programme that will ensure that all schools, through a private sector initiative, are availed with information and assistance.â€