By Sue-Ann Wayow

THE Princes Town Fire Station closed down since last year July, will be repaired and ready for use again soon.

Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander toured the Princes Town Fire Station on Monday along with Member of Parliament for Princes Town Dr Aiyna Ali, members of the Princes Town Regional Corporation and the media.

Speaking to reporters he said, “We see what needed to be done. We see what we have to do to get it up and running again. The country on a whole, Princes Town is calling for it, there were two fires in a recent time and the persons say it was not one that they would appreciate.”

Alexander said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar spoke to both him and Dr Aiyna Ali and said, “No matter what you find here today, we must fix it.”

“We came with the intention today to fix it and rest assured it will be fixed,” he promised.

The station was closed after a rat infestation amongst other structural issues. The fire officers at the station were relocated to Mon Repos Fire Station in San Fernando.

The appliance was assigned to the Penal Fire  Station.

The call for the fire station was renewed after two houses were recently destroyed by fire.

Chairman of the Corporation’s Spatial Planning and Building Committee Deryck Mathura told AZP News the tour was welcomed and the fire station that is decades old  will need to not just be repaired but rebuilt.

He said also said further assessment needed to be done.

Mathura said, “The fact that it is down affects the region of Princes Town which is not good. You have to depend on San Fernando.”

While there is not a definite timeline to have repairs completed, he is expecting it to be done in the shortest possible timeframe.

“The Minister is looking at having it done maybe within a couple months’ time and then we can look at the bigger picture of either rebuilding  or something. We may have to go back to the drawing board and some proper discussions as to the way forward,” Mathura said.

He  said while the structure was standing seemingly firm, certain aspects would need to be reinforced and repairs needed to done to the roof.

Mathura also said, “It does not make sense we are just patching up something and leaving it there. The bigger picture is to rebuild. That might be the way to go.”

Last Thursday, at the post Cabinet media briefing, Alexander announced that 280 auxiliary fire officers will be used to enhance human resource for the Trinidad and Tobago Fire Services (TTFS).