Contract signed for new Port Maria fire station
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Port Maria in St Mary should have a $217-million state-of-the-art fire station in 12 months, to be funded by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF).
Contract for the project was signed on October 22, at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in St Andrew.
The facility will house up to 80 firefighters, and serve more than 100,000 residents in the parish as well as the neighbouring parishes of St Ann and Portland.
It will also serve as a venue for regional conferences and training sessions for the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB).
Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Desmond McKenzie, said the facility will be of “significant benefit to the people of Jamaica”.
McKenzie also disclosed that the JFB will be getting 10 new fire trucks in December.
Meanwhile, Minister without Portfolio in the OPM, Mike Henry, said the project is one of many fire stations that JSIF will be building and upgrading, under the JSIF’s Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project (DVRP).
Meanwhile, Managing Director of JSIF, Omar Sweeney, said that the DVRP is targeting three coastal communities – Montego Bay in St James; Port Maria in St Mary; and Yallahs in St Thomas – to improve capacity, so that vulnerable people in the communities will be protected during emergencies.
—JIS