A non-governmental organisation (NGO) of Japan has gifted two fire brigade vehicles worth $220 million to Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) fire brigade department.
Chief Fire Officer Tahseen Siddiqui on Monday said that the Society for Promotion of Japanese Diplomacy has dispatched the vehicles by sea with other rescue equipment, including two ladder trucks and two rescue trucks, which would reach Karachi Port within the next two to three days.
He further said that the shipping and transportation expenses amounting to Rs 113.8 million have already been paid by the Japanese consul general in Karachi and that the NGO would also send a two-member team for the training of the local firemen.
The gift is the outcome of an accord inked between Akira Ouchi, the Karachi consul general and KMC chief fire officer. The chief fire officer had made the request a year back which was accepted by the NGO and later consulate general of Japan in Karachi seconded the request. At present, the fire brigade department has 67 vehicles of which 20 are dysfunctional and of 2 of the 4 snorkels at the department are currently dumped.
