Hope for Santa Cruz fire station
SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — INSURANCE company Guardian Life, Member of Parliament for North East St Elizabeth Kern Spencer, service clubs and civic organisations as well as members of the local business community have joined hands to rescue the Jamaica Fire Brigade in Santa Cruz.
Guardian Life last week donated $500,000 which will go towards the rehabilitation of the Santa Cruz fire station. The building has been out of use for over two years now, after the firefighters complained of rodent and termite infestation as well as physical instability.
Since 2008, the firemen in Santa Cruz have been housed at rented private premises about half a mile from the centre of this south-western town. Rental costs amount to $1.2 million annually.
At the handing over of the Guardian Life cheque, Spencer pledged $1 million from the Constituency Development Fund towards the fire station’s rehabilitation while St Elizabeth’s Fire Chief, Homer Morris said the $500,000 gift from Guardian Life would be matched by the Jamaica Fire Brigade.
Morris also indicated that commitments had come from the Rotary club, Kiwanis club, the St Elizabeth Parish Council and the business community.
Spencer used the occasion to call on the corporate citizens in North East St Elizabeth to make further donations to the fire station’s rehabilitation project. He also called upon State Minister with responsibility for Local Government Robert Montague to provide another fire unit for Santa Cruz.
“This particular fire station is surrounded by probably the fastest growing town in St Elizabeth … a lot of new housing developments are taking place, and I know that on several occasions there have been near misses and no one can understate the importance of an active fire station in the town,” the MP said.
Guardian Life’s Sales representative Anlyn Nembhard, who played a lead role in securing the gift from her company, presented the cheque to the Fire Brigade’s Assistant Commissioner in Charge of Area Four, Dave McLaughlin.
“I realised that they (Santa Cruz Fire station) needed some help and it wasn’t coming, so I approached my company and the President was very happy and within a week I got a reply to say who the cheque should be made out to,” she said.