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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Staff and students of Makerere University have undergone training on safety and fire fighting.
Norah Nalubowa, the acting Warden Livingstone Hall and the Warden Africa Hall disclosed that the training targeted all hall guards, chief custodians, custodians, head cleaners and some students’ leaders.
“The people we targeted in this training were from all the 12 halls of residence and some students leaders especially interior ministers and hall chairpersons. This is because when anything happens in a hall, students are quick to find the student leader more often than an administrator, but we intend to roll the training to the rest of the students,” Nalubowa said at the training session, which took place behind Livingstone Hall.
In a notice dated May 14, 2019 to all wardens in halls of residences at Makerere University, Nalubowa said that although they have fire extinguishers fixed on walls in various buildings, some of the university workers and students do not know how to use them.
Nickson Okello, the OC Makerere University Police Station says that majority of the staff have expressed to him that they are not able to operate some of the fire fighting equipment.
In May last year, fire gutted the University’s largest Female Hall of residence –Mary Stuart Hall, leaving several properties destroyed and students injured. This fire had according to police reports started from a gas cylinder at a canteen.
At the time of the fire outbreak, several eye-witnesses had disclosed to Uganda Radio Network that they could not access fire extinguishers as they were locked in the Senior Common Rooms while some are said to have gone obsolete.
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