MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica – The newly constructed Montego Bay Fire Station in St James will officially be opened on May 13.

Assistant Superintendent (Acting) of the Jamaica Fire Brigade’s St James Division Shayne Jones-Henry, informed that work is now being done to complete the installation of utilities for full functionality of the state-of-the-art facility. He was speaking at the monthly meeting of the St James Municipal Corporation on Thursday (April 14).

“It was officially handed over to us [JFB] by the project team and the provision of the installation of utilities are being actioned by the fire brigade,” she said.

The four-storey facility, constructed at an approximate cost of $574 million by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) under its Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Programme (DVRP), is considered to be the most modern fire station in the region.

It features dormitories for the firefighters, administrative offices, a gymnasium, and

communal spaces.

Meanwhile, in an interview with JIS News, Managing Director of JSIF, Omar Sweeney said the necessary furniture and equipment needed to outfit the fire station are being put in place.

“We are in the final stages of making the station ready and we anticipate that government officials will be present on the 13 th of May to open it. Equipment to outfit the facility has been coming in. It [the opening] is a month away and we are working towards that,” Sweeney said.

The new fire station, which will have the capacity to accommodate over 200 firefighters, will replace the old Barnett Street facility that was demolished in 2006.