LIABILITY has left the building

The downtown Port-of-Spain fire of two Saturdays ago has remained on the national consciousness and it does not appear that it will go away quietly, although we are known as a nation that easily forgets; and an issue will disappear into oblivion as if it never happened. However, this is a special case and there are many issues that will remain on the front burner for a long time, well after the debris has been removed from the burnt-out sites. In particular, the tenants of the People’s Mall will test the resolve of the authorities as they would like accommodation within easy reach of human traffic, if even temporary, to restart their businesses but it is unlikely that any suitable site in and around the city can be found.

No Vending
It does not take much imagination to identify the current burnt-out site cleared of ruble and debris as being the most appropriate. However, it would be a repeat of history where temporary turns into permanence and the time never comes when a long-term solution is found. The more things change the more they remain the same! It is left to be seen if the authorities will allow these vendors to return to the burnt-out site to continue plying their trade or whether the opportunity will be grasped to create a modern structure that is befitting of the capital city.                              

We in Trinidad and Tobago pay little attention to risk and, in fact, behave as if risk is not in our vocabulary. Risk is a part of life. When we leave home and go on the road, whether it is to work or otherwise there is always the risk that we will not get to our final destination as a result of an accident. Whenever, we take a flight the same theory applies but the risk of dying in a plane crash is significantly lower than dying in a motor car accident. The average person never thinks about such an event but that does not mean that a risk is not present.

Who is liable?
In the not too distant past, if your neighbour’s house catches fire and this spreads to your house, your neighbour becomes ultimately liable. This principle is no longer applied otherwise, the occupiers of the People’s Mall- the origin of the fire would have been held liable. Could you imagine the uproar? Consider the principle of duty of care where one person owes that duty to another. It could be argued that the construction of the People’s Mall posed an above average risk to surrounding properties and as such the principle could be tested where the occupiers of the People’s Mall can be made to answer. That principle can be taken even further, where a case can be made out against the authorities for allowing such structures to be erected posing above average risks to nearby property.

The fire authorities might have a case to answer as well as the properties that were destroyed on the western side of Frederick Street, and so too their insurers had an expectation that they should have brought the fire under control and not allowed the fire to cross the road and destroy their property. The authorities, on account of their neglect of the salt water mains, might well have a case to answer since there was an expectation that adequate water would have been available to fight fires since the raison d’etre for installing salt water mains more than 20 years ago was to make water available for fire fighting. Knowing that the system was non-functional and not doing anything about it, is nothing short of an admission of culpability.

This inferno in the city has raised many issues and should act as a wake up call not only to the authorities but to the ordinary citizen as well because it is time that we accept responsibility and take steps to do something about it. There are too many excuses and too many attempts to mislead through mis-information but in this case there is little room to hide. Some spokesmen for the Fire Services on a radio programme admitted that the public has lost confidence in them and they have heard the message loud and clear. They were redoubling their efforts to regain the public trust. It is hoped that these are not empty words but a genuine injunction to truly deliver services to the public. E-mail:bkaquing@hotmail.com