On International Firefighters' Day I would like to congratulate the firefighters of Rescue 1122 for their achievements and dedication. Rescue 1122 has always been on the forefront in saving precious lives of their countrymen. Today, people of Pakistan trust Rescue 1122 and feel safer because of the commitment and professionalism of Fire Rescuers, who have saved losses worth over Rs 180 billion while providing timely response and professional management of over 64,000 fire incidents since June 2007.
I would also like to congratulate Dr Rizwan Naseer and his team, which turned this idea into a reality and established Rescue 1122 as a model for other organisations in Pakistan. I feel proud that Punjab Government has successfully expanded this service in all Districts of Punjab and its expansion to tehsils is underway. Further more, I would like to congratulate the Emergency Services Academy for training the Emergency Services of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, AJK & Gilgit Baltistan and we shall be pleased to train the Emergency Services of Balochistan and Sindh. I have also constituted a committee to review the fire safety standards in public/commercial buildings to avert fire incidents under the chairmanship of Minister for Housing so that we can evolve an effective fire prevention strategy and prevent these increasing number of fire emergencies.