By Cedric Johnson, Gleaner WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
DESPITE FINANCIAL help from the Parish Council, the Westmoreland Fire Department is not able to start repairing malfunctioning fire hydrants because of the unavailability of a utility vehicle.
Speaking at the recent sitting of the Westmoreland Parish Council, the head of the fire department, Deputy Superintendent Homer Morris, said his department was ready to start repairing the hydrants but was being hampered by the unavailability of a vehicle.
"Normally, we would be able to borrow a vehicle from Montego Bay but of the 14 units in that city, only two are now working," Mr. Morris said, in responding to the concerns raised about the non-functional hydrants by Savanna-la-Mar's Mayor, Delford Morgan. "We can't do the repairs without a vehicle."
However, Mr. Morris' explanation did not go down well with Mayor Morgan: "We have provided money from our meagre resources for you to improve the fire service, so you have no excuse now for not doing so," he said. "We want to see the repairs done as early as possible."
Deputy superintendent Morris then sought to explain to the Council that the funding to carry out the repairs to the fire units was not the problem as, according to him, "The money is available but we are having a problem accessing the spare parts needed."
Within recent months, the fire department has been bemoaning the absence of functioning fire hydrants at several strategic areas around the parish, especially in the resort town of Negril, where there are only two functional hydrants along the hotel strip and four along the highly congested West End main road.
The Parish Council recently made an allocation of $128,000 to the fire department, which responded to 36 calls last year and saved property valuing more than $169 million.
