By Petulia Clarke, Staff ReporterTHE JAMAICA Fire Brigade's islandwide fire hydrant repair programme has stalled because of financial constraints.
The programme, which had been ongoing since 1999 has hit a snag, resulting in numerous fire hydrants throughout the island not being repaired. The result is that the extent of the destruction caused by fires is likely to be greater, in instances where firefighters are unable to get water from hydrants.
"The programme has not done very well," Major H. George Benson, head of the Jamaica Fire Brigade, said on Friday. "The hydrant situation in Jamaica is bad. We have slowed down because of funding. The capital allocation from the Government is nothing to speak about."
The Government in the 2003/2004 Estimates of Expenditure set aside $70 million to acquire firefighting equipment, to repair fire stations islandwide and to rehabilitate trucks and hydrants. But, $20 million was already allocated towards the purchasing of equipment including computers, printers, portable batteries, antennae and radios.
NUMBER INSPECTIONS
According to the JFB web site, a maintenance team mandated to cover the island and rehabilitate or recommend the rehabilitation of fire hydrants on an ongoing basis, has inspected to date 4,263 hydrants in the Corporate Area, repairing 2,881. In St. Thomas, it inspected 400, repairing 74; in St. Catherine 1,752 were inspected, and 446 repaired; and in Clarendon it inspected 41, repairing 23. Repairs to fire hydrants have been effected in all other parishes. However, only about 50 per cent of the island's more than 10,600 fire hydrants are in a good state.
And with the work now stalled, Major Benson is urging Jamaicans to be more safety conscious.
He has asked that people take note that illegal electrical connections, ignorance and carelessness have resulted in numerous industrial and domestic fires since the start of the year. There have been 13 resulting fatalities reported by the police.
Most of these Major Benson blames on failure to observe basic fire-prevention procedures. This especially in depressed communities, where improper infrastructure and unsafe practices lead to quickly-spreading fires.
"Jamaica is not a safety-conscious country," he said. "The nation is failing to observe very basic fire prevention methods... people take a lot of risks and do a lot of silly things."
While the department lobbies for more funds and alternatives to fire hydrants, Major Benson said that Jamaicans have to "be level-headed and think safety" to prevent occurrences of fire.
The JFB, he said, would be lobbying, once again, for the re-introduction of underground water tanks throughout the island, a system that would alleviate the problems firemen face with malfunctioning fire hydrants. Major Benson said that the underground tanks, of which there are some still in Jamaica, are a "viable alternative" that, unlike hydrants, would always guarantee a source of water.
