Basseterre, St. Kitts, March 23, 2020 (SKNFRS): Nine young persons hailing from the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis have taken the bold step to commit themselves to saving lives as members of the St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Service.
Ronaldo Taylor, Kenroy Tweede, Rasheed Wattley, Kareem Bascus, Trevin Nisbett, Travis Reid, Tameich Reid, Raheem Searles and Makimba Fahie were sworn in as Fire Officers at a brief ceremony on March 20, 2020 at the Basseterre Fire Station. Fire Chief, Everette O’Garro welcomed the recruits to the Service and implored them to conduct themselves at a high standard.
“You are about to become members of a very prestigious organization and one of the most important things is that we are a disciplinary organization… In this disciplinary organization, we expect conduct at a very high level, we have no room to accept disobedience. We welcome you to this prestigious organization and I wish you every success,” he said.
Force Personnel Officer, Clifford Govia, told the young Officers that their personal development should be continuous to be the best they could be. He also encouraged them to be good role models.
“I want to remind you now that you are role models to a lot of persons. You are a part of the national security structure and people are going to look up to you believe it or not. I want to thank you very much for coming and we expect great things from you and I want you to know that you are some of the best in our society, you work hard and you are coming into an institution where people expect you to be disciplined… Be a role model, be willing to work hard and be willing to make a difference…,” said Mr. Govia.
Some of the new Fire Officers shared the experiences that led them down this career path.
“I joined the fire service because I loved the organization from small coming up and being a part of the organization would help me to elevate myself and be given opportunities to go abroad and do whatsoever to represent the service…” said Fire Officer Taylor.
Fire Officer Reid, the only female in the group, shared her childhood story of visiting the fire station in her community.
“Since I was going to school, I would always pass by the fire station in Charlestown and visit and say when I get older and I’m finished with school, I will join the department and eventually I did.”
Fire Officer Nisbett said that he joined the fire service to protect people as he really likes the organization and finds it to be a noble place to work.
“I believe I can serve the organization well and make it proud. I always loved the organization from a tender age, and I wanted to become a Fire Officer for a very long time because I believe that it is a good place to be,” he added.