‘No more fires in POS’

Commenting on last weekend’s devastating fire in the nation’s capital, ATTIC vice-president Gerald Hadeed said insurance companies have suffered substantial losses due to many fires in Port-of-Spain over the years. "With every fire outbreak, insurers watch helplessly wondering how much of the city will burn before our firefighters, with their inadequate and outdated resources, attempt to subdue the flames," he lamented.

Expressing ATTIC’s sympathy to all affected by the fire, Hadeed said the association was particularly concerned about the entrepreneurs of the People’s Mall who lost their livelihood in a matter of hours. He added that these were unable to obtain insurance because their business properties were of substandard construction and "the total destruction of the ‘mall’ was certainly foreseeable." Declaring that such fire losses (whether insured or not) affect the economic activity and development of Port-of-Spain, Hadeed was optimistic that Government would "put the necessary resources to ensure that this conflagration is the last of such occurrences to affect our capital city."

The ATTIC vice-president said the association was heartened by Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s assurances of assistance to the entrepreneurs of the People’s Mall, and actions to undertake rebuilding in the affected areas. Manning mandated the Urban Development Company of TT to provide temporary shelter for the People’s Mall vendors and a high-powered Cabinet team has been formed to determine what other assistance could be provided to those persons. Hadeed also called for local authorities to ensure that proper construction standards and codes are adhered to within the city, particularly all buildings within high risk business zones and commercial centres throughout TT.

Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA) president Gregory Aboud said while tragedies such as last weekend’s fire could have the effect of increasing insurance rates in the city, he was optimistic that this will not happen in this instance.

Aboud said DOMA will be working with insurers and other authorities to ensure that a proper water supply and other necessary resources are in place to prevent a reccurrence of such catastrophes in Port-of-Spain.

The DOMA president said the problem of a poor water supply has been plaguing the city for years and it was high time to resolve it.

Checks by Newsday revealed that some affected by the fire have already consulted insurance company Algico about their options. Other insurance companies in Port-of-Spain declined to say if they were approached by fire victims.