$109 Million Contract Signed for New Yallas Fire Station

Citizens of Yallahs in St. Thomas will have a new fire station by August next year.This follows the signing of a $109.49 million contract for construction of the facility on Friday (Nov. 22) at Jamaica House. To be located at West Main Drive in Yallahs, the two-storey structure will serve approximately 95,000 residents of the town and surrounding communities.Features of the building include male and female dormitories; two engine bays; kitchen; recreation room; fitness area; control room; bathrooms; rainwater harvesting system; and emergency medical room. The contractor is Alcar Construction and Haulage Company Limited.Construction of the Yallahs Fire Station is being undertaken under the Jamaica Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project (JDVRP), which is being implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) with funding from the World Bank.JDVRP is aimed at enhancing the country’s resilience against disaster and climate risk. Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, under which JSIF falls, Hon. Mike Henry, said that the Yallahs station is one of three facilities being built under JDVRP.The others are the $534.9 million Barnett Street Fire Station in Montego Bay for which ground was broken in June, and the $217 million state-of-the-art Port Maria Fire Station in St. Mary for which a contract was signed in October.Minister Henry thanked the World Bank for working closely with JSIF in helping the country to reduce disaster and climate vulnerability, by among other things, constructing national priority infrastructure such as fire stations.The new Yallahs Fire Station will be built to withstand natural disasters, particularly storm surges.It will accommodate up to 40 firefighters, with 10 on duty at any given time, and the building will be disabled-friendly.The station will also serve as a venue for conferences and training sessions for the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB). In the meantime, two water tender trucks, which were acquired under the JDVRP, were officially handed over to the brigade during the signing ceremony.They each have an 8,000-litre reinforced coated steel tank, and maximum water pumping capacity of 1,000 litres per minute.The trucks provide for easy maneuverability on hilly terrain and narrow roadways and come equipped with attachments and tools such as fire extinguishers, hydrant hoses and adapters, hydrant key and suction wrenches.