Firemen suspended
Jamaica Fire Brigade Public Relations Officer, Emeleo Ebanks, confirmed yesterday that four firefighters have been suspended from duty. This after members of the brigade staged a protest yesterday in Kingston, speaking out against tough working conditions. Ebanks, however, could not confirm the reason for the suspension. In a notice distributed by the Kingston and St Andrew (KSA) Division Headquarters, Corporals Relando Daley, Almondo Robinson and Andre Carty and Firefighter Shamair Walters were instructed to report to the superintendent’s office today at the York Park Fire Station. The notice read: “All members of staff are hereby informed and instructed that the following members of staff not be booked at any fire station in the KSA Division with immediate effect,” naming the quartet. Earlier this month, Sergeant Leo Bennett was reportedly suspended after staging a oneman protest. He told THE STAR yesterday that the emphasis for them is not on money, but safety and welfare.
Walters added: “We had a 24-hour work arrangement being done for the last two years now. This allowed us to work what we call a tour in the course of a 24-hour period, so we’d come on in the night. Currently there is cap on the amount of hours that can be worked within a 24-hour period. So we need that to be amended, so the 24 can be reinstated,” he said. “We are hoping for some amount of response so we can at least have the 24 reinstated and that the legislation that is preventing the matter can be addressed so that the firefighters can be able to work the 24 shift arrangement.” He said that under the current system, firefighters have no days off.
“So it is unreasonable to expect someone to be able to keep up doing that of the entirety of their lifetime as a firefighter,” he said. Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister Robert Nesta Morgan expressed his disapproval with the firefighters’ method of getting their message out as “nothing is achieved by going to the streets”.
“We’re not a government that is resistant. Your struggle is actually our struggle. So it is not a case where we see ourselves as up there suh while the firefighters are down here,” he said. “What we need to do is that we need to be at the table because the issues that you raise are valid.” He advised the group that they should write to Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie requesting a meeting who he promised to speak to.
“But weh you have to do, enuh, you have to lay out what your concerns are clearly, so that when the union or the minister or you have the meeting, you can figure out,” he said. The firefighters expressed hope that, having met with a senior official, they can reap some reward.