TEN NEW fire trucks are expected to arrive in the island by the end of this month, according to Acting Commissioner of the Fire Brigade Frederick White.
According to a statement from Jamaica House yesterday, Acting Commissioner White told Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller that the new fire trucks will arrive in the island by late April.
The Deputy Fire Chief was updating the Prime Minister on developments within the fire brigade. He said additional trucks including a number of special units are expected to arrive by year end.
According to Jamaica House, Prime Minister Simpson Miller assured Commissioner White, and the other officers who met with her, that although she was no longer the minister with portfolio responsibility for the fire brigade she would ensure that under her watch, the brigade was brought up to first world standard.
She said this should include the establishment of a world class training institute which is to be constructed at Twickenham Park in St. Catherine. The Prime Minister said the institute would not only serve the training needs of Jamaican firefighters, but that it could also offer training to firemen and women across the region.
PROPER ACCOMMODATION
Mrs. Simpson Miller told the firefighters that she would be pushing for proper accommodation for them and said that the refurbishing work to be carried out on fire stations across the island should be given urgent attention.
Mrs. Simpson Miller also said she was aware of the constraints facing the island's firefighters and commended them for their tireless work which, she said, at times goes beyond the call of duty. She said she would be ensuring that the men and women of the Jamaica Fire Brigade receive the proper firefighting uniforms as well as firefighting gear and equipment.
