At the beginning of the week, the National Fire Service was put on blast by the victims of 2 separate fires. The victims insisted that the responding firefighters had serious logistical problems, which caused the fires to destroy property that could have been saved.
So what does "Landy" Habet, their new minister, think about how the Fire Department is currently performing? That was one of the questions that Jules Vasquez asked him when he appeared this week as a guest on Uncut.
In an extended and heated discourse on the topic, Jules challenged the Minister on the systematic neglect that this important department has had to deal with from successive governments. Here's that back and forth about the NFS:
Hon. Orlando "Landy" Habet - Minister of Sustainable Development, Climate Change & Disaster Risk Management
"It is a unit of the Ministry that when we inherited it, was in really bad shape, - to put it that way - not only in terms of the infrastructure, but in terms of the equipment, but also because of the personnel. The infrastructure is one thing, and I think we can deal with that. You don't really need a humongous, new building to operate from. You might need some amenities. The equipment is very important because if you don't have adequate fire trucks, then you can't get out there to put out the fires. We have trucks that have a very limited capacity for carrying water."
"We're trying to get trucks that have more capacity, but we also understand that if we can get bowsers to accompany the truck, that can take 2,000 or 3,000 gallons, or maybe even 5,000 gallons like those big bowsers that take gasoline, then we'll be able to get there at the fire location and start putting out the fire."
Jules Vasquez - Host
"But, how far are we away from doing that, and will the systematic neglect that has burdened this service, this department for so long, will it continue?"
Hon. Orlando "Landy" Habet
"We took a paper to Cabinet where we will do a building in Belize City, a temporary one close to the Marion Jones Stadium, where they are currently. And then, we'll do smaller buildings in 3 or 4 of the different districts, and refurbish most of the other buildings with the same money."
"We have been getting a lot of assistance from the US South Command. They have assisted us with buildings in the past. We recently got that new building for Belmopan, and we are in the process of identifying a location in San Ignacio, and I think in Dangriga, where were will get some funding from them to build new stations."
"We are looking to see how we can identify funding to try to get in some of those new trucks. Even if we can get at least 1 for each district in the beginning, and then use the better trucks that we have currently."
The Minister also discussed a few of the welfare issues that have consistently caused firefighters to have low morale. He said that his ministry is exploring the possibility of recruiting more firefighters to the profession:
Hon. Orlando "Landy" Habet
"The buildings that we have currently don't have the capacity to housed many of the fire brigade at the same time, so they work on shifts. Another part of the problem, because with some of the changes that the administration is making now we had to try to see how we can fit them in the best we can. The fire department they want to work 24-hour shifts. I can see why and they have told us why, because they have a second job, so they have to decide what is priority. Is the fire department work your first priority or is it the second job and we understand and maybe their salaries are not that great. We've negotiated with them, brought in the public service union, we are thinking about a 12-hour shift, some of them still insist on going on an 8 hour shift. An 8 hour shift is difficult to operate. We need to take another cabinet paper, maybe not this year but for the following fiscal year to try to see if we can get more officers in, but also to make certain that those that are there get their due promotions and their due increments, because it's no use if you having new buildings, new equipment, but if your personnel is not satisfied, that house is going to burn you know."
We'll have an encore presentation of UNCUT in its entirety at 8:00 tonight on Channel 7 - after many viewers missed it on Wednesday due to a city wide blackout.
