The government has said that it’s continuing to assess the logistics and cost attached to the move to separate the Fire Department from the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda.
The decision to separate the two entities was made following years of advocacy and lobbying by members of the Fire Department who have repeatedly argued for the separation on the grounds that much of the training needed for fire tenders do not reflect a better training for firefighters and faster response times, by allowing them to focus specifically on fire duties.
Last year, Parliament appointed a seven-member select committee to review and make suggestions on the Fire and Rescue Bill, but nearly 10 months later, there has been no movement on the Bill.
Antigua and Barbuda remains one of the few Caricom nations to continue to have its fire department still attached to its police force.
The Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Ambassador Lionel Hurst spoke to some of the remaining challenges which the Attorney General Sir Steadroy Benjamin is mulling.
“To move from its current state to what would be a modern fire department would also mean an increase in the cost because we’d have to have a head of a fire department, much like the head of the Police Department, and we would also have to increase the number of fire personnel that are employed in the fire department, and there might also be some other administrative rules governing the fire department that would not apply in the Police Department or vice versa.
“So, all of these are being worked on and although we are borrowing some from others that have already gone down this path, there is a certain reluctance because whenever you make these fundamental changes, somebody usually gets harmed, and we don’t wish for anybody to be harmed, so it’s a very slow process, but it’s going to take place eventually,” Hurst said.
Last September, the Attorney General, agreed to establish a committee to meet with members of the fire department, key stakeholders, and members of the public to give their views on the move.
St John’s Rural East MP Maria Browne, St John’s Rural South MP Daryll Matthew, and St John’s City East MP Melford Nicholas, Leader of the Opposition Jamale Pringle, St John’s Rural West MP Richard Lewis, and St Philip’s North MP Sherfield Bowen were all chosen to serve as members of the committee.
