Fire Stations In Montego Bay, Port Maria And Yallahs To Be Completed In 2021/22

Construction of three new fire stations in Montego Bay, St. James; Port Maria, St Mary; and Yallahs, St Thomas, is expected to be completed during the upcoming financial year.

The Government has set aside $1.27 billion to undertake this and other activities under the Jamaica Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project, which seeks to enhance Jamaica’s resilience to disaster and climate risk.

For the 2021/22 period, it is also anticipated that the Port Royal Street Coastal Revetment will be completed, the National Risk Information Platform (NRIP), Micro-zonation Study and Coastal Assessments will be finished, and the three-year Research Fellowship (Seismology) will also be completed.

Additionally, the funds will be used to facilitate training on the new Building Codes by institutions such as the HEART/NSTA Trust, the Management Institute for National Development (MIND), and the University of Technology (UTech).

Up to December 2020 under the project, infrastructure work and equipping of the seismic support unit at the University of the West Indies was completed, civil works on two box culverts were completed, and two water trucks were procured and delivered to the Jamaica Fire Brigade.

Other works undertaken for the period included construction of the new Montego Bay Fire Station, Yallahs Fire Station and Port Maria Fire Station – 73 per cent, 51 per cent and 22 per cent completion respectively; the Port Royal Street Coastal Protection Project – overall progress was at 25 per cent; and drafts of the revised Jamaica Fire Code (JFC) and Jamaica Building Code (JBC), as well as the Ecosystems Assessment Report, were also produced.

The project is being implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), with funding from the Government of Jamaica and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

After an extension, the project, which began in April 2016, is slated to end in June 2022.