Piarco Fire Station is inadequate

THE EDITOR: Please allow me a space in your newspaper to comment on a Newsday article headlined, “New Fire Station for Piarco” in the Tuesday October 14, 2003 edition. The former minister of National Security Mr Howard Chin Lee was quoted in the article as saying in the Budget debate that “upon completion of this station, (the new Piarco Fire Station) Trinidad and Tobago will become fully compliant with the Regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which dictate that the Airport Fire and Rescue Service be able to adhere to response times, save lives and minimise the effects of any accidents.”

This statement by the then minister acknowledges the fact that the present Fire and Rescue service provided by the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service at Piarco Airport is inadequate and below the required international standards. The minister’s statement has also vindicated previous statements made by the Executive of the Fire Service Association (Second Division) highlighting the inadequacies of the Fire and Rescue Service at the airports in Trinidad and Tobago. The minister has also inadvertently exposed erroneous statements of the Chief Fire Officer Mr Lennox Alfred and his Public Relations Officer Mr John Springle. These two officers have consistently denied claims by the Fire Service Association (Second Division) that the Fire and Rescue Services at airports in Trinidad and Tobago are well below the required international standards.

Additionally, the minister in boasting about the new fire station at Piarco, failed to inform Parliament that the new station only came about as a result of the courageous efforts of the Second Division Officers stationed at Piarco who, based on the advice of their association, refused to continue working in an unsafe, dilapidated fire station with substandard equipment. All this while the Chief Fire Officer maintained that the association was being mischievous and that the existing appliances were above the international standards. What the minister may not know is that thousands of taxpayers’ dollars have been spent over the last five years to repair some of these appliances and they are still not functioning properly. Let us all pray that while we wait for the new appliances to arrive, there are no incidents that will require a full response from the Piarco Fire Station. The minister should also find out if just one or two individuals are making the decisions on what appliances should be purchased and from whom, and whether the nation as a whole or a few individuals stand to gain from the transactions.

MORTON MITCHELL
Acting Secretary
Fire Service Association