By Erica James-King, Staff Reporter
State Minister of Tourism and Industry Hon. Wykeham McNeill, right, has the full attention of Portia Simpson Miller, Minister of Local Government, Community Development and Sport, and Barrington Grey, Member of Parliament for Eastern Hanover, during a regional community consultation held at the Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort in Montego Bay yesterday. - Patrick Campbell/Freelance Photographer
WESTERN BUREAU:
LOCAL GOVERNMENT Minister Mrs. Portia Simpson Miller is expressing frustration at the grossly inadequate resources and dilapidated infrastructure plaguing the island's fire departments and she is vowing to continue to aggressively draw attention to the needs of that entity.
Her comments come at a time when the limping fire service has borne the brunt of criticisms and anger from residents who charge that the brigade's malfunctioning equipment have caused them not to respond quickly or adequately enough. Reiterating that "inadequate funding over the years has led to a severe under capitalisation of the brigade," Mrs. Simpson Miller pointed out that the $1.3 billion currently allocated to the fire service is just a drop in the bucket to meet even the bare-bones needs of that public sector entity.
"This service requires closer to $1.6 billion to be adequately resourced after it has been restructured to become more efficient in its operations," warned Mrs. Simpson Miller, while addressing a regional community consultation at Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort yesterday.
Among the shortages facing the fire brigade are fire boats, trucks, pumps and turntable ladders to address fires on high-rise buildings, the Local Government Minister lamented. She is citing an urgent need for additional funding to purchase a new fleet of fire units, portable pumps, hydraulic equipment, breathing apparatus, spare parts and maintenance equipment.
ADVERSE CONDITIONS
On the matter of the state of the fire stations, the Minister was scathing in her condemnation of the adverse conditions under which the men have to operate, explaining that the dilapidated infrastructure was affecting the safety and morale of firefighting personnel.
"Where they have to be operating, we can't call some of them stations," remarked Mrs. Simpson Miller. "A rehabilitation programme for the repair of fire stations needs to be implemented urgently."
Responding to questions from The Gleaner after the regional consultation yesterday, Mrs. Simpson Miller noted that she is having discussions with the Finance Ministry on ways of accessing financing for effecting improvement in the brigade. She says the Finance Ministry is now "looking at the best proposals in terms of equipment for the fire brigade and I am hoping that something will be done soon."
This regional consultation on community development held at the Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort was the fourth in a series of regional consultations held islandwide, with the aim at hammering out solutions for problems being faced at the community level. The Local Government Minister contends that the consultations are an integral part of the Local Government reform process.
The Social Development Community Commission reports that to date some 3,416 persons have participated in the regional consultations. Leaders of community development committees and parish development committees, parish councillors and representatives from major public sector entities have participated in the consultations. Yesterday, community groups from Trelawny, St. James, Hanover and Westmoreland participated in the regional consultation at Holiday Inn.
