PRIME Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said the commissioning of a fleet of six fire vehicles would service communities long left vulnerable.
And she added that the introduction of five fire tenders and a heavy rescue vehicle, valued at $69 million, would correct a failure in the nation’s firefighting response that should not have persisted.
She was speaking on Wednesday during a handover ceremony for the six vehicles at the Penal Fire Station. Persad-Bissessar said “real protection” would be delivered to communities such as Penal, Barrackpore, Debe, Siparia, Princes Town, Rio Claro, Mayaro and Point Fortin, which she said had been neglected and denied adequate resources. The vehicles, she said, would be stationed at Princes Town, Mayaro, Point Fortin, Penal and Tobago, with the heavy rescue vehicle deployed at the Chaguanas fire station, where it would assist the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service (TTFS) in its response to road traffic accidents (RTAs).
Acting Chief Fire Officer (CFO) Andy Hutchinson, who also spoke at the ceremony, said the rescue vehicle is designed to handle hazmat incidents, natural disasters, and heavy rescue accidents. He added that while dispatched in Chaguanas, the vehicle would be used by both the Northern and Southern Divisions as required.
Hutchinson lamented that for far too long, fire officers were asked to perform their duties under the weight of resource constraints, training deficiencies and insufficient protective personal equipment (PPE). He added their commitment to the service of the people had never wavered.
He said the addition of six state-of-the-art vehicles represented “a preliminary measure aimed at addressing a considerable shortfall in essential resources”, which he added was caused by “a decade” of neglect and mismanagement.
Hutchinson also appealed for an administrative building for the Fire Service (it is awaiting a decision on this); critical PPE for officers; urgent infrastructural work at numerous stations; and the establishment of a TTFS Fire Academy to provide updated, critical training required for personnel.
Responding to his call, Persad-Bissessar assured him that her Government would “do it step by step”.
“This is just the beginning. More is yet to come. I say again, I can’t give you fire officers everything on the same day, but I promise you, and I do keep my word…we will work with you,” she continued.
‘Governmental neglect’
During her address, Persad-Bissessar recalled that in the mid-80s, her family home in Siparia was destroyed by fire. At that time, she said, no fire service reached the home in time, causing the family to lose everything.
“In those days, rural Trinidad bore the greatest burden of governmental neglect, without the infrastructure, resources, and timely protection others often took for granted,” she said.
When she later entered public life, she vowed that, under her watch, no rural community would face that kind of neglect again. Wednesday’s handover, she added, was the State protecting its people, their lives, their homes and their futures.
During her former term in office, during 2010 to 2015, she said her Government erected fire stations in Penal and Mayaro, but following her exit, the stations were “abandoned”.
She lamented that the stations lacked adequate resources in equipment and personnel.
“So, today in Penal is not just another official event. It is the correction of a failure that should never have persisted, and the completion of a responsibility left undone for too long,” she continued.
She added that Princes Town, which had been left without a functional fire station, would soon be serviced by a new fire station through collaboration between the Ministries of Homeland Security, Public Utilities, and Rural Development and Local Government. She asserted that the commissioning served to ensure that the response from the TTFS would be “ready, capable, and effective”.
Persad-Bissessar also praised the efforts of fire officers, who she said had worked under constraints, but had safeguarded lives and property across the country.
“They have carried a heavy burden and continued to protect the public when the system did not fully support them. For that reason, they must now be properly equipped, protected, and supported by a Government prepared to ensure they can operate safely and effectively,” she said.
TTFS readiness
Also speaking during Wednesday’s event, Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander said the commissioning ceremony was about readying the TTFS.
“When people call the Fire Service, it means something has gone wrong: someone is at risk, someone is calling for help, and they expect the Fire Service to respond in the manner in which it is supposed to,” he said.
In those moments, he said, there was no room for delay or failure.
“These tenders will improve response time. They will strengthen your reach and they will help save lives,” he said, adding that every community in Trinidad and Tobago ought to have a fire tender.
He said that drones would soon be added to the inventory.
