PoS still a fire risk

At present, said the WASA manager, the city of Port-of-Spain is served by only 67 working hydrants. He emphasised that, although WASA operates the mains which supply them, the Fire Services are responsible for the hydrants.

To fix, repair or replace the water-mains and hydrants, said the WASA manager, would cost $100 million. Neither at the DOMA consultation nor since then has any information been forthcoming about the alternative salt-water mains which are run by the Fire Services as a major and dedicated fire-fighting system.

We find such a state of affairs to be astounding, to put it mildly. In April 2005 the heart of Port-of-Spain was wrenched out by an inferno known as the People’s Mall Fire. The blaze caused damage worth an estimated $25 million. Other businesses lost included Queensway, Y De Lima’s, Fabricland, Nina’s, Pizza Boys, Kristina’s, Catwalk, and offices of the Ministry of Health and the Cocoa Board.

At the time Chief Fire Officer Lennox Alfred complained that firemen were hampered in fighting the fire because of a poor supply of water in nearby fire-hydrants, which led to the Fire Service having to rely on truck-borne water and hoses stretched to the sea.

Again, in October 2005 firemen fighting a blaze in the Bi-Way Building on Charlotte Street also complained about dry and rusted fire-hydrants. Yet again, in February 2006, when a huge fire gutted Republic Bank on Frederick Street, once more firemen said they could not get water from hydrants.

This scenario would be a good subject for some bizarre comedy, if it were not so serious. What are the effects of a fire? The fires have destroyed the fruits of countless hours of sacrifice and labour by our entrepeneurs of all levels. The destruction in turn has added to the cost of doing business in Port-of-Spain, quite possibly including insurance costs, much of which will ultimately be passed on to the customer. Each time there is a fire, the affected area is cordoned off for days adding to the congestion of both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Then there is a cost to the emergency services to fight these blazes. Thankfully so far this cost has only been monetary, but still firemen’s lives are being put at risk. Again, thankfully no-one has died in these recent fires, but that’s certainly no future guarantee.

And what of the image of our capital? Surely these fires harm civic pride. Fires are occurring with impunity, yet the Government touts Trinidad and Tobago as the headquarters for the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), and the gateway to Latin America. The Port-of-Spain Waterfront is rising full-pace to its high-rise glory, and the Government is planning similar for the deprived residential areas of East Port-of-Spain, but if these recent fires cannot be fought at the level of one or two-storey buildings, how can the Government guarantee that in the near future we won’t witness the horror of some towering inferno?

Each of the three recent fires brought about a ringing of hands and some talk of hiring foreign consultants to investigate, yet people certainly can’t say that today they feel any safer than they did after April 2005, after October 2005 or after February 2006.

If the salt-water mains and hydrants are in fact in any better condition than the fresh-water hydrants, then let the Fire Service and the Ministry of National Security step forward to immediately reassure the population.

Otherwise, we would simply alert all residents, workers, business people, commuters and schoolchildren, who daily visit Port-of-Spain, that at present you may be sitting on the proverbial tinder-box.