By Devon Evans, Gleaner WriterBROWN'S TOWN, St. Ann:
ERNIE SMITH, Member of Parliament for St. Ann South West, is warning the Ministry of Local Government that the Ministry will be held responsible for any fire disaster in the constituency as a result of its tardiness in providing the area with a proper fire service.
According to Smith, the single fire unit at the Brown's Town Fire Station, which serves over 150 districts in North West and South West St. Ann, has been out of service for nearly six months due to a problem with the braking system.
Mr. Smith said both himself and fellow Opposition MP, Verna Parchment (St. Ann North West), have been trying to get the Ministry to repair the disabled unit without success. He claimed he was told that neither the Ministry nor the St. Ann Parish Council had the money to do the work.
The MP said the situation became most alarming on Sunday, February 15, when a bush fire broke out in Brown's Town, threatening several homes. He said the fire unit from the St. Ann's Bay Station, some 22 miles away, did not arrive until 45 minutes later.
DANGER AHEAD
Mr. Smith said the inadequacy of the fire service was further exposed when the small unit arrived with all the water hoses leaking badly and the firemen struggling to cope with the problem.
"The Ministry of Local Government is courting disaster in this area", Mr. Smith charged in a statement issued on Monday. "It is scandalous that the unit in Brown's Town is not functioning because of a simple thing such as fixing the brakes".
"There can be no excuse for not fixing the brakes of the only fire unit serving over 150 rural districts and a few squatter settlements", Smith asserted.
