(Trinidad Express) Heads must roll and there must be an immediate investigation into who purchased 20 unusable wooden ladders for the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Service (TTFS) for a whopping TT$1 million.
The ladders are now parked up behind the Fire Service headquarters because they cannot be mounted on fire trucks, Leo Ramkissoon, president of the Fire Services Association, told the Sunday Express yesterday.
Businessman and social activist Inshan Ishmael filed a Freedom of Information Request in February this year, asking the TTFS to provide a breakdown of the cost and suppliers for all firefighting equipment bought for fire stations and firefighting personnel for the period January 2015 to April 2023.
By letter dated September 17, 2013, a breakdown of the monies spent was provided to him, but not the suppliers.
The Sunday Express obtained a copy of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) document which stated, among other things, that 20 wooden ladders were purchased for TT$999,000.
Included in the expenditure was some TT$62.6 million for repairs of TTFS vehicles and TT$13 million on tyres.
In March 2022, a ceremony was held at the TTFS headquarters, at which National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds commissioned seven utility vehicles and the 20 double-extension ladders for the TTFS.
Those ladders were never used and are said to be lying low behind the TTFS headquarters in an open space.
Ramkissoon congratulated Ishmael for taking action to request the information to expose possible corruption and poor management decisions. He said the ladders were purchased and were sitting at Piarco for a very long time until March last year, when they were commissioned by the minister.
Ramkissoon said the association had been clamouring for ladders and other critical equipment and the wastage of this money is alarming.
“We were very disappointed with the fact that these ladders made its way into the Fire Service and cannot be used because they cannot be mounted on most fire trucks so they can’t get to the scene,” he said.
He said what is appalling is the cost, as he noted that even if the ladders were usable there is no way that 20 wooden ladders can cost $1 million.
“Somebody supposed to lose their job. In fact, somebody should be making a jail and we are demanding accountability for that because when decisions like that are taken, it affects us fire officers in general because we make the calls for equipment,” he said.
“My men cannot get a glove to put in their hand, we don’t have vital equipment, and you are spending a million dollars on ladders, that is unconscionable,” he said.
Ramkissoon said he has been a fire officer for the past 24 years and when he entered the service, they had gone past the days of using wooden ladders and started using aluminium ladders. He said they were told wooden ones are better, but those ladders never came on stream because of this fiasco.
“So what are the officers to do? Grab the ladders and run behind the trucks with it? Those ladders cannot be mounted in the fire trucks so they are worthless,” he said.
Also speaking to the Sunday Express by phone yesterday, Ishmael said there is need for an investigation and an audit of this expenditure.
He noted that the TTFS stated it was in the process of collating the outstanding information of his request, particularly the breakdown of suppliers.
The ladders warrants a probe, among other purchases, he said.
“If one were to do a search, you can get a similar ladder out of the United Kingdom for £600 and even if you factor in shipping and freight cost, the prices would be about £1,200 maximum,” he said.
“It hurts me deeply when you look at the condition of our country, everything is falling apart, this is my tax dollars going down the drain. How much more are we supposed to take?” he said.
He claimed the same contractors Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley called “crooked” years ago are the ones who are receiving the bulk of monies for contracts.
Ishmael, who has business in the automotive industry, said the expenditure for repairs of vehicles in the TTFS also needs to be examined.
He noted fire tenders travel short distances within their areas, so the cost of $13 million on tyres is questionable.
Ishmael noted that in the letter to him the TTFS stated the information he requested with respect to asking for the details, including the suppliers, would “substantially and unreasonably” divert the TTFS resources from its other primary operations.
He said even if the information amounts to the volume of an encyclopaedia, it must be provided according to the law.
