SHAME! Hon Vanterpool regrets condition at Fire Station Building
At the short press conference, while the Minister expressed regret at the situation and revealed some new measures to have the building repaired, very little has been done to properly investigate and address the reported state of officers who also fell ill at the facility.
Deep regrets
“Based on the news article, [we] do regret that it is taking so long to get the Fire Station repaired and restored and up back and running after hurricanes Irma and Maria last year,” Hon Vanterpool told the media.
“We wish that we were able to do it a lot sooner… but it took some time to get things in order to be able to get the Fire Station repaired and restored,” the Minister noted.
In revealing the reason for the lengthy delay in remedial works, Hon Vanterpool said, “we felt that we wanted to do it a lot better and stronger,” while noting that he had no prior knowledge of the officers reported ill health status, and that same is now being investigated.
The building which was extensively damaged by hurricanes Irma and Maria of 2017, appears untouched with the exception of tarpaulins and plywood to support the structure.
In addition, the building has drains chiselled into the floor — a DIY attempt to drain water from sections during rains — and the loose electrical fittings remain a safety hazard.
Unfortunate
“It is unfortunate it’s taking so long,” lamented the Minister, “We do take into consideration [what] the Chief and his fire officers have gone through… they have been very patient, they have had a lot of difficulties,” he said.
“We emphasize with them on what they have gone through and wish that they didn’t have to go through all that and we want to truly apologize to them… we want to assure them that we will be moving very quickly.”
On November 28, 2018, Cabinet approved Quality Construction owned by Mr Roy A. Garraway, to be awarded the contract to fix the building which the Minister said is likely to take about six months. The contract is now expected to commence on Saturday, December 8, 2018, pending signing.
For the officers at the Fire and Rescue Services Department, not a day has been easy since September 6, 2017. Coupled with the integral role they played in rescue services during and after the hurricanes of 2017, the department has faced several major occurrences including fires that further damaged their facilities.
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8 Responses to “SHAME! Hon Vanterpool regrets condition at Fire Station Building ”
Really!!!
This goes to show that he and the others does not, does not care about the people they suppose to be serving. And when politicians begin to think that they know more than the people they serve, you get this type of lackadaisical attitude and behaviour and they want to justify it and want to gethe re-elected to continue the so so bull nonsense.
Fire Officers need new/modern state of the art equipment; these are modern times, let us get with the program. I have a friend who has running water in his dog house, a solid roof and other amenities for his DOGS. Come on man.
Irma and Maria are scapegoats in this instance and we need to stop blaming them for what they are not responsible for. If anything, they should be commended for taking the roof off of that garbage dump.
I will not blame the Minister/Ministry only. I do not think that the Chief Fire Officer spends 15 hour shifts at the fire house; If he does he would have pushed harder for renovations long ago.
To the fire officers who have had to endure this hardship, I say "God Bless you and protect you'. As a member of this community, I applaud you guys and girls for this sacrifice.