WESTMORELAND, Jamaica — Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie says the government will be doing “everything possible” to have restore two fire trucks donated by the Japanese Government, which have been parked at the Westmoreland Fire Station for the past two years.

“It is the responsibility as a government when people make donation to the country… and my understanding is that those trucks have been there for two years just sitting down just like that, so we are going to do everything that is possible to have those trucks up and running,” assured McKenzie.

He said the trucks, which were built without water tanks, will be retrofitted with custom made tanks.

“The trucks were not built with water tanks, and the connections to our local hydrants need to be corrected,” McKenzie stressed.

“There is capacity in the trucks for water tanks to be put in and we are going to have discussions with the commissioner of the Jamaica Fire Brigade, Errol Mowatt, to build those tanks, put them in it, so at least those trucks will have water in them so they can respond to a fire.”

Meanwhile, McKenzie, who was speaking with reporters on Thursday following a tour of the Savanna-la-Mar Fire Station, said he has also given instructions for working conditions of firefighters to be improved at that station.

These, he said, will include the installation of air-conditioning units and the purchasing of beds for the dormitory at the station, as well as addressing the defective sewage system at the facility.

Anthony Lewis