The Jamaica Labour Party raised an alarm last week that, more than 10 days after the Government had promised to withdraw from service some 25 faulty fire trucks, the units remained in operation.

In a statement issued last Thursday, Opposition Spokesperson on Local Government and Water, Shahine Robinson, said: "The defective fire trucks have not been withdrawn from service," despite a recommendation from the Ministry of Housing, Transport, Water and Works, on March 26, that the faulty units be "immediately withdrawn from service until the suppliers can guarantee that they are safe to operate."

The ministry also recommended that the units be "recertified by the Island Traffic Authority" before they are recommissioned into operation.

The recommendation came as a result of a crash last month in which a fire truck skidded off the Newton main road in St. Elizabeth and slammed into an embankment, causing the water tank to be separated from the truck's chassis.

An investigation was subsequently ordered to examine the roadworthiness of the Rosenbauer America-made units.

"This is cause for very serious concern about the safety of these pumpers (fire trucks), especially with respect to how the sub-chassis/frame is attached to the main chassis on all 25 pumpers commissioned last August from Rosenbauer America," the Transport Ministry stated in the executive summary of its 13-page report.

"While the dismantling/separation occurred seemingly after the pumper hit a rock on the side of the road, we are satisfied that if properly constructed, the truck would not be affected this way," the summary further stated.

Warning ignored

But the Opposition charged that the Government was negligent in purchasing the units in the first place because it had warned that the trucks were built for North America and not for Jamaica's rugged terrain.

Robinson pointed out that the Opposition had recommended that the Government instead purchase the right-hand-drive Renault trucks which had a proven track record.

Efforts to reach Minister of Local Government Dean Peart and his junior minister, Harry Douglas, on Friday, were unsuccessful.

Since the acquisition of the trucks at over $500 million last year, there have been numerous complaints of malfunction occurring.

One firefighter at the York Park Fire Station in St. Andrew was recently quoted as saying, "We had a failing fleet before, but we don't like the units that they put in. We want these to go back and we want new ones."