Funding needed

Provide the District Emergency Organisations (DEOs) with more funding to carry out their duties.

This is request being made by the Executive Director of the Regional Security System (RSS), Commander Errington Shurland who delivered the feature speech at the St. James Central District Emergency Organisation Annual General Meeting recently night at Queen’s College.

“The possibility of a DEO lobbying the Diaspora for assistance exists. But at the very core of my position is that there ought to be an increase in the amount of funding provided for training and equipment or equipping rather, of the District Emergency Organisation so that they could perform adequately when required and it ought not to be that those organisations are left to go and solicit funds from various generous benefactors. While St. James Central, given its location, may be able to tap into the hotel sector and so on, what are you going to say to the people in St. Andrew or the people in St. Lucy who do not have the benefit of such diversity of funds,” he queried.

The RSS Executive Director stated that a lack of funding is one of the primary reasons why only 19 of the 30 DEOs are active.

“That to my mind, is also one of the contributing factors as to why we only have 19 of the 30 District Emergency Organisations. There are other factors, but I suggest that funding is one of those critical factors along with structuring and the point that I want to make here as well is that the Department of Emergency Management has got to step up to the plate.”

Shurland would also like to see more members of the public come forward and volunteer for these organisations and he believes that more persons would be willing to do so once they begin to feel that these organisations do not have a political agenda.

“We ought to be in a position where as the former Fire Chief is here, individuals would come out and support the District Emergency Organisation. That is why I make the point also, that I have a difficulty with them being along the constituency line. I believe that it should be along the parish lines or something so, because we have to be here on a shift. Eliminate, I would say, as far as practicably possible, any political overtones where such an important grouping is concerned,” he urged.