GREEN ISLAND, Hanover

The rapidly developing town of Green Island, which sits between Lucea and the resort town of Negril, is again without a functioning fire hydrant.

A new hydrant was installed in the town eight months ago, after over a decade without the vital equipment. The installation was the collaborative effort of the Hanover Fire Department, the National Water Commission (NWC) and the Hanover Parish Council.

Last Thursday, Paul Hibbert, the deputy superintendent in charge of the Hanover Fire Department, disclosed to a sitting of the Hanover Parish Council, that the town is once again without a functioning hydrant.

“I can’t say how it happened, but it is now out of service,” Hibbert told the meeting. “Water is there, but it can’t come through the body of the hydrant itself, instead it comes up through the earth at the base of it.”

He pointed out that the brigade is not in a position to undertake the repairing of the hydrant.

“The division is not in a position by itself to administer the repairs to get back this hydrant in operation, but I’m currently in dialogue with Mr [Michael] Coley of the NWC with regards to getting an equipment so that we can have this hydrant reinstated, because some excavation will have to be done with a heavy-duty unit, and we do not have such, but the NWC has,” explained Hibbert.

He said that the hydrant is critical to the area and “we need to have it back in working condition as soon as possible”.

The brigade and area residents have long cited the importance of a functioning hydrant in Green Island. Almost three years ago a building in the community that housed a large liquor store, operated by Lancelot Reid, was completely destroyed by fire.

At the time of the blaze, the fire department pointed out that it was severely hampered in its efforts to extinguish the fire, due to the non-existence of a working hydrant in the area.