00:00San Juan has been without a fire station for just over a year after the building which housed the previous
00:05one was shut down.
00:06It's a serious concern for the San Juan Business Association.
00:10Its president, Abraham Ali, points to commercial growth in the area
00:15and having to depend on either the MOVA, Santa Cruz or Rison Road stations to respond in emergency situations.
00:22Any fire station away from the heart of San Juan will not be able to respond on a timely basis.
00:30And I have suggested to the Member of Parliament for Barataria, San Juan, the Honorable Saddam Hussein,
00:37that we will undertake and we meeting San Juan Business Association will undertake to build a fire station.
00:47But we are asking him to provide the land.
00:50Ali says it is estimated to cost $10 million and a previous spot is unsuitable.
00:56According to him, being located right off the priority bus route poses exposure to a lot of carbon monoxide daily
01:02and the traffic congestion in that area can delay response times.
01:08The SJBA states that the discussion with Hussein was about seven months ago
01:12and the minister did get a team to try to identify a suitable piece of land.
01:16But San Juan Business Association has been very proactive in what we do.
01:21We have identified lands on the Uriah-Butler intersection between the priority bus route and the highway
01:31where you have the URP, which is non-existent at this point,
01:38and that compound could be transformed into a fire station.
01:46Ali believes it is a highly strategic point to areas like Arangwez and Barataria.
01:52The association states that it is ready to move ahead with the structural drawings,
01:56but is unable to do so without the land.
01:59In this regard, the SJBA is calling on Hussein to act on behalf of its 250 members and the wider
02:06community.
02:07At each and every level that is required, which is at the level of cabinet or at the level of
02:15homeland security.
02:17So we leave it up to him to do an aspect of negotiation on behalf of San Juan Business Association.
02:27The last communication, he says, was about a month ago, where the association stressed the agency of the matter.
02:33In addition, the SJBA is calling on the authorities to address problems of a rat infestation in the area,
02:40flooding by businesses such as banks, as well as street dwelling.
02:44They have a suggestion for traffic congestion, including making certain roads one way and introducing parking restrictions.
02:52But crime is also a major concern for them, and they are calling for an action plan, which they say
02:58need not be publicized.
02:59We need to get rid of the I and the me culture in this country.
03:04Anytime we start to focus on the we and the us, we will make a significant difference in crime, in
03:11everything else we do.
03:13Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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