Firefighters move closer to occupying $575-m MoBay station
MONTEGO BAY, St James — Firefighters working in the parish of St James should soon be enjoying the benefits of their new, $575-million, state-of-the-art fire station.
“We have now started moving furniture into the Barnett Street Fire Station,” assistant superintendent of the St James Fire Department, Anton Morris proudly announced during his address at the St James Municipal Corporation (SJMC) monthly meeting on Thursday.
The fire station was slated to be completed by August 2021.
But in January, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Desmond McKenzie told the Jamaica Observer that the long-awaited fire station’s opening date had been pushed back due to extreme weather conditions.
“There are still some minor works being undertaken; the rain in the latter part of last year created some disruption of the work. The contractor has completed their share of the responsibility…. and the brigade is now working to complete the minor details,” the minister said during a visit to the facility.
“The fire brigade, along with the Jamaica Social Investment Fund and the ministry, will be working with them to complete the minor details of the facility — and once that is done the brigade will be moving in on a phased basis. The furniture and everything are in place, they have been secured, and once the furniture has moved in, we will be ready for the official opening,” McKenzie told reporters at the time.
“I am pretty confident that well before we celebrate our 60th year [of Independence], this facility will be open for the benefit of the people of Montego Bay and the wider western Jamaica,” he added.
Speaking with the Observer after Thursday’s meeting of the SJMC, an obviously pleased Morris shared that the minister’s timeline for the fire station’s opening may become a reality.
“We had two loads of furniture delivered from Kingston last week and today we got another one. In the next two weeks we should have all our furniture and appliances delivered,” said Morris.
The necessary infrastructure needed to facilitate firefighters moving in is also being put in place, the assistant superintendent shared.
“The water and light are still temporarily connected, and the sewage is not connected as yet; it is in process,” Morris told the Observer.
He continued, “We still do not have an estimated opening date because that is really based on the sewage connection, but as soon as the sewage is connected we are going to move in. Negotiations are taking place between the JFB [Jamaica Fire Brigade] and the National Water Commission and they are going well.”