Henry Charles Unaware of Fire Department’s Media Dodge

As Belize moves deeper into the dry season, the risk of bush and house fires is once again heating up, but one voice has been noticeably quiet. In recent months, firefighters have consistently declined media interviews, even after major blazes, raising questions about transparency and public awareness at a critical time. Is this silence policy, or coincidence? We put those concerns directly to Minister of Disaster Risk Management Henry Charles Usher. He says he knows of no directive keeping firefighters from speaking out and insists there is no policy barring them from engaging with the press.

 

Henry Charles Usher, Minister, Disaster Risk Management

“We are seeing a lot of bush fires, certain forest fires. We’re seeing a lot of residential fires as well, so it’s still an ongoing effort to make sure that we are able to respond to those as best as we can.”

 

Shane Williams

“ Can you speak to the fire department’s refusal to grant interviews, to the press, especially after fire disasters and different things? Is that a policy?”

 

Henry Charles Usher

“That is certainly not a policy. That’s the first time I’m hearing that. I’ll have to find out if that’s the case. I will say this, that the fire department conducts investigations and the police department, if it is a criminal event, if there’s suspicion that there’s arson or anything like that, then it’ll be the police department that makes a determination. The fire department just does an investigation and then submit such investigation to the lead investigator in the police department. So it wouldn’t be the place of that firefighter who is on the scene to be able to form or communicate a conclusion. So maybe that’s the case, but certainly it’s not a policy for them not to speak to the media.”

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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