Scarborough Fire Station repairs 98% complete

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

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Repairs are almost complete at the Scarborough Fire Station at Bacolet Street. – David Reid

RETIRED Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Tobago, David Thomas, says the physical structure of the Scarborough Fire Station, which was burnt three years ago, is about 98 per cent completed.

But he said an air-conditioned unit is still to be installed along with some painting and electrical work..

“So when all of that is completed and the painting is done, they (firemen) can come home,” Thomas said on Friday.

“If we get the air-condition unit now, in one week everything will be up and operational. if they bring the suppression unit, in less than a week we will get it up

“The plan and the whole layout is already in place. We know exactly where everything is going to be installed and that can happen in one week.”

He said he does not believe the authorities would allow another financial year to close and not make the resources available to complete the work.

On April 14, 2019, fire gutted the upper part of the fire station, which housed the dormitory. After the incident, officers were temporarily relocated at the Crown Point Fire Station.

A year later, in May 2020, they moved into a building in Carnbee, which previously housed the Old Grange Police Station.

Thomas, who officially retired from the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service on Wednesday after 39 years of service, told Newsday he was happy to have overseen much of the restorative work at the Bacolet Street station.

He said he intends to visit the station regularly to see the progress of the work.

“I just want to make sure we provide an accommodation for the firefighters that is modern and best suited for their existence there.”

Thomas said the station received a complete overhaul.

The board floor was changed to concrete and tiled. The roof, windows and doors were also changed.

He said additional dormitory space and washroom facilities were created for the women officers and the electrical and plumbing systems were redone. The kitchen was also refurbished.

Thomas said they also created an IT room, cleaners’ quarters and an area to welcome guests.

He said they are currently constructing a kit room for the officers.

“So when they come back from their fire calls they would not have to take their kits in the dormitory space but would have them in a secured room, properly vented with extractors so that it would not contaminate other persons in the space.”

Thomas praised the efforts of officers, various government entities and corporate Tobago for helping to rehabilitate the fire station.

“I am retired but because the whole plan was developed and instituted by me, I am even willing to go in at least two days a week to make sure that we on point and that we carry out the balance of work according to what the plan is.

“I will not separate myself because that fire station is in the Tobago space and I cannot be a Tobagonian and not be concerned with the development of Tobago.”

Thomas said when he volunteered for the project, it was not because he was a fire officer.

“It is because I knew somebody needed to take the project that can bring it to fruition.”

Thomas said the Tobago division has also conceptualised a fire safety plan for the THA’s much-touted Scarborough Development Plan.

“We have already designed a plan to fit into that development that will make Scarborough a secured place, a space that observes safety practices, would speak to proper codes and standards in terms of construction, in terms of the preservation of the environment and catering to the marine resources, designed a plan for water supply for fire-fighting.”

He added, “A lot of the water that gives us flooding, we have designed a plan that we could utilise all those things and transform it into a useful product that will eventually serve us and even enhance the tourism product.”

Thomas said although the Tobago division was not initially consulted about plans to enhance the capital city, “We bought into the idea and came up with a plan that fits snugly into the development plan.”

He predicted it would be a win-win not just for the Fire Service and the THA but for Tobago’s tourism sector.

“Therefore, we can seriously impact on the gross domestic product of the country by making our input if they go with our suggestions and our recommendations.”

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Tobago tourism stakeholders call for strict zoning laws

Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

News

Tobago Tourism Agency Ltd chairman Alicia Edwards – THA

Plantation Beach Villas resort manager Sean Clarke has called for zoning to be taken more seriously in Tobago.

At last Wednesday’s tourism partner forum hosted by the Tobago Tourism Agency Ltd (TTAL), Clarke said development should not take place without environmental considerations.

“I recently had a guest that said with all the clean, green, safe, serene, beautiful, beyond extraordinary, you leave the airport and for the first 15 minutes of (your) drive, there is not a tree. Everything is glass and steel and concrete.”

He said he avoids visiting the western part of the island as “it’s a mess and out of control to a large extent for my type of tourism.”

He claimed to have spoken to Chief Secretary Farley Augustine about the issue. “He was so excited about all the rustic bamboo bars and so on.”

Clarke also discussed the state of the rum distillery at Fort Campbellton.

“It needs some clearing up, some fixing, some picnic benches, village bar or something – those are the kinds of things our tourist are coming for. They’re not looking for big glass and steel buildings.”

In response, Chairman of TTAL Alicia Edwards said there is hope for community tourism on the island, noting that one of the most successful models comes out of the village of Castara.

“There is hope for community tourism – Castara has proven that, and I don’t know what it would take for other villages and other areas to see that, but it is something that I definitely support.”

She said an authentic Tobago experience is something that is not as polished as the product TTAL is aiming at.

“It is important that we see the beauty of the semi-vanished or the half-process and actually use that to assist in what makes us authentically Tobagonians. The wooden houses – we’re not going to do latrines and so on right now, but I understand for certain categories of tourist that is really going to make Tobagonians stand out in the local market.”

On the decentralisation of Town and Country approvals, Edwards said he is aware that some discussions took place at the Town and Country planning level.

Those discussions signalled the intention of the THA to have slightly more control over what is built and where it’s built.”

She added: “I hope that before we get to the Woodbrook (stage) and the other places where residential has become commercial by force and all of that, that we actually get some decent zoning laws in Tobago.”

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