Conditions worsen at UG

UNIVERSITY of Guyana Vice-Chancel­lor Dr. George Walcott said yesterday the in­stitution has been forc­ed to use its own money to speed-up re­habilitation work on the campus, following delays in the Inter-American Development Bank rehabilitation pro­gramme.

The Vice-Chancellor’s statement has come in the wake of increasing calls from lecturers and speculation among students that classes should be suspended until leaking roofs are repaired, cafeteria ser­vices are upgraded and the sewerage system rectified.

‘The campus is slowly coming to a standstill,” one lecturer told Stabroek News yesterday, as talks between the Administration and the University of Guyana Workers’ Union (UGWU) continue in a bid to find a solution to lingering problems on campus.

Admitting that the institution may have made the mistake of waiting on the IDB pro­ject, Dr. Walcott said “things then got worse,’ but “we are using our own resources to try to bring about improvements.”

Administrative sources said the Arts faculty had planned a late Tuesday afternoon meeting to discuss the crisis since both students and staff are fed up with the situation.

“One hour of rain and that’s it,” another staffer said, referring to water which lodges in several classrooms after rains.

Worse hit is the crucial large lecture theatre whose roof leaks so badly that water remains on the grounds days after.

Asked about reports of a campus closure UGWU President Father Malcolm  Rodrigues  said the talk is not so much about closure but the suspension of classes until things are sorted out. He did not elaborate.

“We are talking with the administration to find a solution,” Rodrigues said.

(B.W.)

Fire Department In Emergency Condition

Aging vehicles, poor equipment not enough stations poor salaries…

BY LARRY JASKARAN

THE Fire Department has been suffer­ing serious deterioration over a number of years, a senior official there has revealed.

The official, who asked not to be named, but who has been employed by the depart­ment for many years decided to speak with the press so that the authorities may be prompted to start major rehabilitation work which is much needed.

The fire-fighter dis­closed that there are only four fire engines servicing the whole of Georgetown, and all of these are below 30 per cent efficiency, he es­timated. Two of the engines are stationed at the Central Fire Sta­tion in Water Street, one at West Ruimveldt and the other at the Ogle airstrip.

“In fact, it can be said that Central has only one engine that can fight a fire as the other one has no equip­ment at all. Sometimes when the good one is down all the equipment is transferred to the other and that is used. However, at most times the ‘bare’ one is used to fetch water for the big ones’ home, he said.

EQUIPMENT

“Equipment on the engine at Central is very short. There are only 19 lengths of hose which means that 11 more lengths are need­ed as there should be 30 lengths per engine. There is only half of one ladder and an en­gine is supposed to carry two complete ex­tension ladders. It has no spare cylinders of compressed air when there should be two and the first aid kit is almost empty.

“The engine at Cen­tral is the only one in Georgetown that has breathing apparatus but even so it is short of a number of necessary equipment like hydrant fittings, nozzles and re­suscitation equipment,” the source revealed add­ing that the engines at Central are Numbers Nine and 11.

“Fire engine Number 13 is at West Ruim­veldt and that is liter­ally falling to pieces, it has no breathing ap­paratus, no resuscita­tion equipment, no first aid kit, it is short 12 lengths of hose, has 18 which are porous) and is also short of fit­tings. Number 13 has only half of a ladder also,” the source dis­closed.

He said that Ogle has one rapid intervention vehicle (range rover) which is much suited for handling light air­craft. “However, it is very poorly equipped. It has no ladders and though it came with ‘ripper gun’ it doesn’t have one now. (A ripper gun is used to cut into aircraft).

Besides, that one vehicle is not enough for Ogle considering the amount of traffic at the strip,” the source pointed out.

He said that around 1983 fifty-five lengths of ‘Great White’ hoses were received from Brazil but they were not well suited for local conditions. “During work about four lengths were lost and suddenly around 1985 the balance, 48 disap­peared,” the fireman noted. He claimed that no enquiry was held. It is understood that hoses of these types are used in mining operations in the interior.

ENGINES

The source explained that all fire tenders working in Georgetown are about 12 years’ old. “There was Tender Eight which came around 1974 and which in 1980 was involved in an accident on the East Bank. It went into the workshop but was never rehabilitated. That engine was sta­tioned at Alberttown Fire Station.

“Tender Seven which was stationed at Cen­tral, developed engine problems in 1979 and in 1984 when another engine arrived for it, we discovered that some parts of the old engine could not work. After 10 years Tender Seven is still in the workshop.

“Tender 10 which was stationed at the Camp­bellville Fire Station and Tender 12 which was treated as a re­serve vehicle both came in 1976. Both went off for mechanical pro­blems and have since been cannibalised.

“There is a water car­rier at the West Ruim­veldt workshop which arrived in 1976 but which has been off the road for about six years awaiting spares,” the sources disclosed.

STATIONS

“Out of five fire sta­tions in Georgetown only two are now op­erational. The Camp­bellville station which was opened in 1970 was closed around ’84. The Alberttown station which was established in colonial times ceased in ’82, the fire boat station had the boats, Forsby, Stag Shaw and Lady Wolley and by ’77 all were out of opera­tion and the boat sta­tion was closed. The only two left working are the West Ruim­veldt Station and Cen­tral Fire Station,” he claimed.

“The only direct em­ergency line that is working is for the G.E.C. The lines for the Georgetown Hos­pital, Prisons, Queen’s College, GRMMA, the Rehab Centre, GSWC (Water Works) and GLC bond are all out of or­der,” the fireman noted.

He said that Berbice has one tender, Num­ber 11, which is in fairly good condition though it needs about 10 lengths of hose. He attributes the condition of the vehicle to Berbicians whom, he says, make donations for its upkeep.

“Leonora has one Land Rover tender which belonged to Guysuco and which is not very well equipped, while Essequibo, our largest county, is with­out any fire engines. A station was built at Anna Regina but is now being used as a consumer supply cen­tre,” the source recall­ed.

He said that Timehri airport has two capable and modern vehicles which are very well equipped and which were supplied by the Canadians.

The source estimates that countrywide, there should be about 351 firemen but presently there are about 142 inclusive of those on vacation. “On the first call of a fire at Cen­tral five men should respond on a vehicle and on the second four should respond, now on a first call four men respond and there are none for the second. At West Ruimveldt sometimes two or three men respond to a call. “About 80 per cent of firemen country­wide are without safety gear. This includes hel­mets, boots, jerseys, and belts and axes. The department has a large stock of boots but all of them are extremely large and cannot fit the men.

“Low salaries are a major setback for fire­men and one of the reasons that makes the work unattractive,” the source declared.

He explained that the deplorable condition of the Fire Department is very alarming considering the amount of combustible material in the city and its environs.

Editorial

The Blackmarket

MANY people have been buying so many things (from margarine to cooking oil to spare parts to tyres to light bulbs to powdered milk and so on) on the blackmarket for so long that it now seems quite normal and that market has become an integral part of the ‘real’ market. In fact apart from rice, sugar, some vegetables, greens, beef, chicken and a few other items which are usually, but not always, available on the ‘legitimate’ market and often at a very high price we rely on traders for nearly every other basic commodity. The parallel market is now enormous because so little is available locally.

One effect of this is that prices are very high. Traders deal in foreign prices and they convert at the blackmarket rate (now, reportedly, about 46—1) and add their travelling and other ex­penses and a mark up so a US$5 item ends up at $350.00 to $400 .00. This can easily be verified by checking a few items. Needless to say, this is an impossible price for most people to pay.

The only solution to this problem is to en­sure a regular supply of goods through normal sources. This is not now possible because the economy is not generating nearly enough foreign exchange.

Yet even accepting the parallel market as the basis of high prices it is still the case that there is a fair amount of racketeering. We have heard for example, of items of spare parts selling at certain outlets at 150 to 200 times the US price. There can be no excuse for that, that is sheer exploitation of a difficult situation.

At another level, we recently had the situa­tion where because of shortages, prices of bread and rice escalated hugely almost overnight. Here again, the basic problem is the shortages but it is again hard to escape the conclusion that there is some unjustifiable exploitation in selling bread for $35 and $40 a loaf. It would be interesting to compare that with the price of a loaf of bread in the USA. In this, case, of course, the flour and some other ingredients are available locally.

There should certainly be some moral pres­sure brought to bear on those who are deliber­ately exploiting a difficult situation. In the in­terest of assisting the consumer we are prepared to consider for publication any verifi­able instance of exploitative prices being charged in a particular case.