President of the Fire Services Association Leo Ramkissoon says penalties for setting bush fires need to be reviewed.
“The law has not been reviewed since its inception and it sends a message about the attitude from Parliament downward to the lighting of bush fires and the way we treat with safety on a whole,” he said in an interview on SKY 99.5 FM yesterday as he addressed the issue of how the problem of setting illegal bush fires in the dry season could be addressed.
Ramkissoon said it was unlawful to light fires during this season but no one paid attention until someone lost his life or was injured during a fire, in reference to the recent death of Senior Forester II Keith Campbell, who died from injuries while fighting a forest fire at Lady Chancellor Hill, St Ann’s.
“The laws need to be reviewed and the penalties need to be made commensurate with the repercussions of those actions and the enforcement bodies need to be strengthened. You can have many laws and if you can’t enforce the laws then you are of no use,” he said.
He also lamented the lack of resources at the department to deal with fighting bush fires.
He said there were great advances to firefighting but there were basic issues and policies that the organisation was struggling to maintain.
For example, Ramkissoon said there was a shortage of breathing apparatus units which were used to enter into smoke filled atmospheres. He said there were only 40 in Northern Division when the requirement was 90.
He said there were also 135 high-rise building in Port-of-Spain and environs and the organisation needed to upgrade its equipment to cater to that.
“There is always a likelihood of that (major fire) occurring. However, the Fire Services need to be upgraded in terms of being prepared for high-rise firefighting. If something like that happens the Fire Services would not be prepared,” he said.
On another issue, he said provisions for an insurance plan for firefighters were not satisfactory and there was a $1 million compensation which was mentioned by the previous government but it was not implemented.
He said firefighters have to seek their own insurance and were three times likely to die earlier in life due to constant exposure to toxic materials.
Contacted on the issues raised yesterday, Chief Fire Officer Kenny Gopaul said: “We’ve been handling all the fires. We have every station with an appliance now. We have trained personal, equipment and modern technology and even music in the vehicles.”