Insurance companies review fire coverage

In making the disclosure yesterday, Association of TT Insurance Companies (Attic) vice-president Srinivasan Gopaul called on Government, the Fire Service and other relevant authorities "to take their responsibilities to our citizens seriously and maintain our firefighting equipment and systems in proper working order."

Gopaul lamented that since months after April’s multi-million fire destroyed the People’s Mall and other businesses on Queen and Frederick Streets, "Port-of-Spain is no better equipped to cope with even the smallest fire outbreak." Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis said talks are ongoing with the Urban Development Company of TT, a special ministerial committee, and People’s Mall’s former tenants on a new structure to be built on the same site as the former mall. Robinson-Regis said every effort will be made to ensure that the People’s Mall vendors are satisfied with their new accommodations.

Noting that insurance companies have been quietly living up to their promises to pay fire losses in downtown Port-of-Spain while various governments and other authorities have spouted empty promises of improvements in the fire-fighting capacity of the city "decade after decade," Gopaul said the situation was unacceptable. He said the People’s Mall fire demonstrated that the ability of businesses to continue to operate over the long-term "is determined to some extent by the quantity and quality of their insurance coverage."

"As insurance companies reassess the potential losses attributable to the changing forces of nature, they also realise that the authorities have not lived up to their obligations to provide the appropriate firefighting capacity to protect the nation’s infrastructure. Our member companies will need to determine if it is economically viable to continue to offer coverage under these circumstances and, if so, under what terms," Gopaul stated. He added that businesses in downtown Port-of-Spain, as well as other built-up areas of commercial activity throughout the country, "should no longer be complacent about their ability to obtain renewal coverage at the rates they currently enjoy."

Given Government’s project works at the Port-of-Spain port and its campus plaza at Richmond Street (that will house the Ministries of Education and Legal Affairs) adding to the city’s already complex infrastructure, Gopaul said a complete reassessment of the Fire Service "must be a priority," and local authorities must ensure proper construction codes and standards are rigidly adhered to.