Design submitted for new Old Harbour Fire Station

McKenzie said the Jamaica Fire Brigade “recently submitted designs for a brand new fire station for Old Harbour, to be situated on lands owned by the agency located near to the Old Harbour town centre.

“Our technical services division is reviewing the drawings now, and once the necessary processes have been completed, an appropriate announcement will be made.”

The minister made the disclosure yesterday in a statement released to the media.

His comments were made after it was highlighted publicly that since last month firefighters have been working in unhealthy environment due to raw sewage overflowing on the premises.

“While I was aware of some of the challenges at the fire station, I can report that a number of the more pressing issues are being addressed, to relieve the misery that the 32 firefighters assigned to the station are experiencing.

“The issue with the sewage pit that was referred to emerged in May. The leadership of the Jamaica Fire Brigade made arrangements with the owner of the property to build a new sewage pit, and this was done and put into service last week,” he said.

“In addition, a shed was constructed to house bunker gears and related equipment, and another bathroom is being built for our firefighters there.

“I am sensitive to these issues of functionality and dignity, and I want to assure them that our policy involves the improvement of the people as well as the systems of our fire services.

“It’s with this in mind that in the last year, infrastructure works were completed at the Spanish Town, Falmouth, Negril and Frankfield fire stations, at a combined cost of nearly $82 million.”

A draft design for the Old Harbour Fire Station has been in the pipeline for years now.

More that decade-and-a-half ago its original home situated at 22 South Street was deemed unsafe and had to be abandoned. This forced the authorities to seek a new temporary home farther down South Street. However, in November of last year the government was given notice by the landlord to vacate the premises.

Given the urgency required to find a new base, a house at Marlie Acres was repurposed and retrofitted to accommodate a fire station.

But this was always a short-term plan.

“The reality of this situation is that the commissioner and his team searched diligently for over one year to find a place to use on a temporary basis, and that is why the current location was moved into at the end of last year,” McKenzie said.

Over the years several Old Harbour civic groups have criticized successive governments for being tardy in their efforts to construct a new fire station at its original residence on South Street.

Few hopes would have been raised by the disclosure made by the local government minister, but the majority will only start to believe whenever ground is actually broken.