SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — With a recent fire that gutted a five-bedroom apartment in his division still fresh in his mind, Councillor Cebert McFarlane (People’s National Party, Leamington Division, has called for a special fund to help fire victims get back on their feet. This is especially needed in Westmoreland, he said, where there are many uninsured wooden structures.

“My concern is the suffering that fire victims go through. For example, this week I had a fire in my division… and there is absolutely nothing in place to assist a fire victim in a meaningful way,” he said during Thursday’s sitting of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation’s monthly meeting.

The help being provided from government organisations, such as the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), is not enough, he argued.

“Our [ODPEM] office at Westmoreland is supposed to assist fire victims [but] the most we can do is assist them with perhaps a mattress and a sheet. You go to the Ministry of Labour, it’s a similar situation. They need more,” he urged.

McFarlane made an appeal to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to work with the National Housing Trust (NHT) to explore how they can help fire victims.

“We in Westmoreland should pay a lot of attention to that issue. The reason for that is that we have [a lot of] board houses — and more than 90 per cent of the houses in Westmoreland are not insured — so we are in a serious position every time somebody’s house is burned down,” he said.

“As a municipal corporation I think we should be calling on the Government to establish a fund with the National Housing Trust so that when somebody has a fire, they can get some form of start-up assistance with their house. Because without that, fire victims are just in a desperate position — and I think that we all, as councillors, face that challenge all the while,” he continued, and called on his peers to support his appeal.

Mayor of Savanna-la-Mar, Bertel Moore lauded McFarlane for the suggestion and promised to take an in-depth look at the issue during the next general council meeting.