THE EDITOR, Sir:
ARE WE being penny wise and pound foolish? I read in today's (April 7) Gleaner that there has been no fire truck in Port Royal for over two weeks. My question is what has happened to the firemen/women who are supposed to be on duty in these instances? Are they still providing 24-hour labour covering overtime and rest day working. Or are they being sent home with full pay as it is no fault of theirs?
In either case that is penny wise and pound foolish. The report said that the truck is in need of repairs to the fuel pump. Even if it needs a new one that would be still cheaper than the wages for the seven-man crew for two weeks.
The fire services and their unions should fight tooth and nail to ensure that the government provides them with a working vehicle at all times or they do not turn up for duty. There needs to be a correlation between turning up and working as in my view if one cannot work then there is no point turning up just for the wages.
Please, please someone please do something quickly to address this situation. Maybe the government's anti-corruption think tank should look into this wanton waste of taxpayers resources, not just in Port Royal, but islandwide.
I am, etc.,
S.L. HARPER
P.O. Box 1882
Kingston 8
