Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 17, 2017 (SKNIS): Deputy Fire Chief of the St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Services (SKNFRS), Abdias Samuel, said that he is excited about the future of the Summer Safety Programme, which successfully concluded last Friday (July 14) with a street march and closing ceremony.
This year’s 15th annual programme was expanded to five half day sessions from the usual three and close to 600 children from ages 5 to 12, learnt about safety practices in the areas of fire, water, disaster, traffic and crime and violence. The growth of the initiative and the positive results prompted Delta Petroleum Ltd to raise its sponsorship from $3,000 to $4,000 for the next two years and $5,000 for the following five year period.
“They [Delta Petroleum] have set a foundation for us to move forward,” Deputy Fire Chief Samuel said. “The money will allow us to be more innovative and creative in the ways we share the information with the children. We will also look at introducing a tiered programme where we have advancing levels of information. So if you enter the programme you will be at a beginner’s stage and the following years you will move up.”
Mr. Samuel added that they intend to add field trips to the Summer Safety Programme and also increase the number of participants and daily take home materials so the information can be shared with others outside of the initiative.
In addition to increased funding, Delta Petroleum’s Regional General Manager, Bevis Sylvester, promised that a company official will play a greater role in the summer programme by interacting closely with organizers to introduce new concepts and facilitating sessions with participants during the 2018 event.
The deputy fire chief expressed appreciation to the many partners who collaborated with the SKNFRS over the years as well as to parents, who continue to place their confidence in the agency to instruct their children. This year’s event was held from July 10 to 14, at the fire stations in Basseterre, Tabernacle and Sandy Point in St. Kitts. The course in Nevis was held from July 03 to 08 at the Jessups Community Center.
