Sunday was International Firefighters’ Day, marked by St. Maarten Fire Chief Clive Richardson (see related story) in a press release. He wished to thank and honour them, both active and retired, for dedicating their lives to protect life and property in the community.
While his statement explained the day’s origins and customs, it – perhaps understandably – did not address the proverbial elephant in the room: Employees of the Fire Department have been on a so-called “go slow” since April 17 and were joined by Ambulance Service personnel (see last Tuesday’s newspaper) 11 days later.
Most of their grievances concerned the working situation at Carnival Village. It is clear neither to what extent alternate arrangements could since be made with St. Maarten Carnival Development (SCDF) and/or government, nor what impact the protest action had on emergency services during the celebrations.
In any event, the closing jump up and burning of King Momo are today, Monday. Remaining issues can hopefully at least be resolved in a satisfactory manner for all parties involved well before next year’s season of revelry.
However, the Windward Islands Civil Servants/Private Sector Union (WICSU/PSU) also noted that former firefighters on pension have been told that when the new function book goes into effect they will not be recognised retroactively for their years of service. A letter mentioning the latter has reportedly been sent to the Council of Ministers.
Now – at this point – that would seem like a rather urgent matter.
