Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has expressed regret that for over 12 years, the state-owned Fire Service Stations were left in limbo, but assured that the ongoing rehabilitation will be concluded and the stations ready for public use in the first week of March 2025.

Fubara gave the assurance when he embarked on an inspection tour of the three Fire Service Stations to assess the extent of work done with the ongoing remodelling, expansion, and reconstruction activities at the sites on Monday.

The governor visited the stations located beside the Isaac Boro Park/Mile One flyover, Borokiri in the old Port Harcourt Township, and Rumuodomaya Community, all in Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor Local Government Areas.

Fubara explained that with the ongoing work, the three major Fire Service Stations will be put into effective operation to provide rapid and quick responses to fire incidents in the state.

He said, “For a very long time, we have had this situation where we had to depend on the multinationals—Shell, Agip, Chevron, and even (Elf) TotalEnergies at that time—to respond to fire incidents in the state.

“From what we have seen today, we can confirm that the contractor is working very hard to meet the deadline. We must, I repeat, we must commission this project in the first week of March.”

Fubara, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Nelson Chukwudi, said it is the responsibility of the government to have such facilities that provide vital social services available to the people to address fire incidents when they occur.

He assured that his administration is reversing the utter neglect such social services had suffered and ensuring that Rivers people will, in the near future, begin to benefit from the stations.

“As a matter of fact, I can boldly say that Rivers State has not had a functional Fire Service for the past 12 years. We are a government, and among our responsibilities is to protect lives and property. Issues of fire incidents could result from some mistakes in our homes.

“So, it is our duty to make sure that we are prepared to combat it whenever it occurs. We are trying to make sure that we do not depend again on the multinationals but are ready and prepared to save the lives and property of Rivers people,” he added.

Governor Fubara was accompanied by Dr. Tamunosisi Gogo-Jaja, former Commissioner for Water Resources, and was conducted around the facilities by the Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr. Samuel Anya.