WE MUST HEAL AND MODERNIZE

THE FIRE SERVICE

STATEMENT BY

THE HON. DR. KENNY D. ANTHONY,

PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER FOR FINANCE,

ECONOMIC AFFAIRS, PLANNING AND SOCIAL

SECURITY

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

INTRODUCTION

Fellow Saint Lucians, Citizens, Ladies and Gentlemen!

Good evening to one and all!

Over the past few days, we have all experienced another

round of industrial action by some members of the Fire

Service Association. This is the third time since this

Government has been elected to office that the Fire Service

Association has embarked on industrial action.

As it is well known, the Fire Service is entrusted with the

responsibility to respond to fires in our homes, business

places, offices, factories and communities, transport the

sick and injured to our hospitals, rescue persons in

distress and crucially, provide trained personnel to man

our airports to respond to aircrafts in emergency. Without

fire service personnel at our airports, aircraft will neither

land nor take-off. Given our near absolute dependence on

tourism, arrival and departure of our guests, any

withdrawal of labour by fire service personnel would do

untold damage to our economy.

It is a tragedy that despite our current economic

challenges, some would choose to add to our collective

distress.

PAUSE FOR CONCERN

I believe that all will agree that the Fire Service is an

absolutely essential service.

Recent events should, however, give all of us reason for

concern. In my years as a trade unionist, I have always

known that no matter what the problem may be with a

Government or a private sector employer, efforts would

be made to protect the interests of the vulnerable members

of the public, especially when they are confronted with

emergencies over which they have no control. Over the

last few days, citizens who needed ambulance services

were left stranded as some fire officers refused to take or

handle emergency calls. Even in the midst of conflict or

disagreement, we should never lose respect for human

life. We have a responsibility to take care of the helpless in

our midst.

I want to thank however, all those officers who opted to

remain at work, particularly those officers who kept our

airports open and allowed the uninterrupted movements

of aircraft to and from Saint Lucia. I thank all of you,

immeasurably. Many of you chose to put the welfare of

your country first, and that was commendable!

THE CURRENT IMPASSE

The current impasse has its genesis in major

disagreements between the Fire Service Association and

the leadership of the Fire Service. It has been said that the

disagreements have been in existence for several years,

some say for the past six years. Indeed the sole

Commissioner of the Commission of Enquiry into “The

Conduct and Management of the Saint Lucia Fire Service

and the Laws Relating Thereto” dates the issues as

commencing “at least since 2009.”[Page 41, Report]

It is simply erroneous, unfair and unjustified to suggest

that this Government did nothing about the complaints of

the Fire Service Association or the Report of the

Commission of Enquiry. Indeed, it was this Government

that persuaded the Fire Service Association to agree to the

setting up of a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the

complaints and the issues bedevilling the Fire Service.

Some of the recommendations within the purview of the

Government have already been acted upon.

I will itemize the principal findings of the Commissioner,

Dr. Francis Alexis, so that you would have a better

understanding of the approaches of the Government to

this vexed matter.

FINDINGS OF THE COMMISSIONER

The Commissioner found evidence of “unequal

treatment” being meted out by the management of the

Fire Service particularly in matters of promotion, “training

and allowances; as well as in administering or

recommending the administration of, disciplinary action.”

[Page 23, Para.15.02, Report]. He noted that Fire Officers

“complained that promotions were not in accordance with

equal treatment and equal opportunity.”[Para 17.01, page

24, Report]. The Commissioner found evidence of

insensitivity. He wrote, “The display of insensitivity by

some members of the [Fire Service] management towards

their subordinates is sometimes amazing.” Para 23.01,

page 35, Report]. He found evidence that issues were

personalized and as he put it “Apparent inconsistences

consistently bedevilled Fontenelle”, the Chief Fire Officer

[Para 24.16, Page 38, Report], wryly commenting that the

“Chief Fire Officer seems to administer different strokes

for different folks”. [Para. 24.21, Page 39, Report]There

were other complaints and allegations which were

itemized by the Commissioner but did not attract

definitive findings or conclusions.

Early in his report, the Commissioner reported that “The

cumulative effect of such factors has been the plunging of

the Saint Lucia Fire Service into a situation whose

manifestations included disrespect or disregard by

subordinates for superiors, indiscipline, sick-outs,

industrial unrest. Morale among junior and middle ranks,

he said, sank to “its lowest ever”, at “an all- time

low.”[Para 15.03, Page 23, Report]

THE RECOMMENDATIONS

The recommendations of the Commissioner were few and

far between. He made only two recommendations on

personnel matters. Curiously, he did not recommend the

removal or the disciplining of the Chief Fire Officer.

Instead, he recommended that “Mr. Leslie Fontenelle

should immediately, be put on contract as Chief Fire

Officer of the St Lucia Fire Service; as was agreed to by

him at the Commission.” This, he said, “will afford time to

Mr. Fontenelle and his subordinates to adjust to the new

dispensation which will come out of the Commission, as

shown by the Saint Lucia Fire Service Management and

the Fire Service Association reaching that agreement

during the last sitting of the Commission.”[Para 26.07,

Page 42, Report].

He also recommended that “ Mr. Ditney Downes,

Divisional Officer, Officer-in- Charge ’C’ or Southern

Division should immediately be transferred from that

Division to Fire Service Headquarters. This will afford

time to Mr. Downes and his colleagues at “C” or ‘Southern

Division’ time to adjust to the new dispensation…” Mr.

Downes has accordingly been transferred.

The other recommendations dealt with miscellaneous

amendments to the Fire Service Act, Cap. 14.04, Revised

Laws of Saint Lucia. Work has begun on these

recommendations.

I wish to reiterate that contrary to what has been said, the

Commissioner never recommended the dismissal or

the removal of the Chief Fire officer or that disciplinary

action be launched against him. It may well have been that

he was preoccupied in healing the deep wounds in the

Fire Service or that he felt that the matter of the removal of

Mr. Fontenelle properly fell to the jurisdiction of the

Public Service Commission to be determined by the

totality of the evidence available to the Commission from

the enquiry.

The recommendation of the Commissioner that Mr.

Fontenelle “be put on contract” is not free of difficulty. It

would be unlawful, in fact, unconstitutional for the

Government to legislate a change to the terms and

conditions of employment of Mr. Fontenelle unilaterally

and put him, compulsorily, on contract. The

Commissioner may well have understood this when he

recommended that this be done by consent, by the explicit

agreement of Mr. Fontenelle.

In the event, Mr. Fontenelle has disputed that there was

agreement that he would proceed on contract. But if as it

has been suggested, that Mr. Fontenelle is the principal

cause of the problems in the Fire Service, then putting him

on contract for two years would not resolve the burning

issues of the Fire Service.

It’s clear too that given the Disciplinary Procedures of the

Public Service Commission, proceedings against Mr.

Fontenelle would only prolong a final resolution.

TOWARDS A RESOLUTION

In the circumstances, a different approach has had to be

fashioned.

Mr. Fontenelle has now agreed that he would be seconded

to the Saint Lucia Airport and Seaports Authority

[SLASPA] to be its Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting

Advisor. In this role, he will ensure that all of the

protocols attendant to an efficient fire service at the

airports and seaports are applied at all times. Mr

Fontenelle will assume his new duties at SLASPA on the

completion of his current period of leave earned in the

Fire Service.

Secondly, it should be clear that there are deep fissures in

the Saint Lucia Fire Service. Discipline has virtually

broken down. As stated earlier, the Commissioner pointed

out several instances of this by both subordinates and

senior officers. Transparent procedures need to be put in

place to govern promotions so that all officers could feel

that they are treated fairly, equally and without

discrimination. New rules need to be enacted to ensure

that there is full respect for the women officers by both

senior and junior officers in the Fire Service.

We need to bring an end to the lawlessness that prevails in

the Fire Service. The management of the Fire Service as

well as the Fire Service Association only seem to invoke or

apply the prevailing laws and rules of the Fire Service

when it appears to be convenient to do so. But in fairness,

some of the regulations governing the Fire Association are

outdated. For example, the regulations governing the

business of the Fire Service Association require the Chief

Fire Officer to preside over elections of the executive of the

Fire Service Association. Such a rule invites conflict and

disagreement as has happened over the past few days.

These things should not be happening in this day and age.

It is clear that the Report of the Commission of Inquiry did

not address these issues, perhaps because they did not fall

with sufficient clarity within the remit of the Commission.

The truth is that the Fire Service, constructed prior to

our independence, badly needs to be healed and

modernized.

For that reason, I have sought technical assistance from

the British Government to assist in modernizing the Fire

Service. The British Government has in principle, agreed

to a request from the Government of Saint Lucia to

provide a small team of experts, which will work

alongside a representative from a Caribbean Fire Service,

to conduct a review of the structure, operations,

promotions policy and overall organization of the Saint

Lucia Fire Service. We need independent external help

because the parties to the impasse do not trust each other

to resolve their differences amicably, in the interest of the

Fire Service and the country.

The British Government, whose own Fire Services have

undergone much modernization in the last few decades,

will work with the Government of Saint Lucia over the

coming weeks to agree on terms of reference for the

review and the logistical details.

I trust that these decisions will go some way to bring

peace and understanding among all.

I bid one and all a good evening and the blessings of Our

Lord and Saviour.