Part 1 of 2

Too Many Crooks Trigger Crumbling Infrastructures.

By Kwame Nkosi Romeo

Seems like we going backward

Things really going from bad to worse

And it is we, the people

Who really getting the part that hurts?

Cry for a Change- King Short Shirt

The fire truck incident at the VC Bird International Airport (VCBIA) on April 5, 2021, ended in the driver's death, firefighter David Roberts on April 23, 2021. Roberts was test-driving a malfunctioning vehicle that set the Easter Monday fatality in motion, heartrending to the family and the citizenry as the dawn of another Easter Monday nears.

Two hundred sixty-three days later, on January 10, 2022, 16-year-old Dequan Cummins became a casualty in the Nut Grove devastating house fire. Due to the negligence of fire crews, Cummins seemingly scorched body was left much like the next day's trash amidst the three homes' rubble and discovered eight days later, marked by a massive outpouring of sadness. 

Coming after was the long-delayed forensic report of a burnt body found in a car on October 30, 2021, and confirmation was transmitted six months later that the missing man was Arthur James. The Antigua Labor Party (ALP) government defaulted on its promise to set up a forensic lab two years ago, and the issue is now a point of contention. 

So the Cummins family can expect the same waiting period as the family of Arthur James for their son's forensic result. Next in order is Dequan's father, Michael, pleading in vain for government understanding: 

"I just want to bury my son and get over this comfortably" (Body found in a burnt car last year believed to be missing man Arthur James- by Theresa Goodwin -The Daily Observer April 8, 2022).

After more than 349 days, on December 24, 2022, the much-awaited DNA results confirmed the body found in the Nut Grove fire on January 10, 2022, was that of Dequan Cummins. (Badly burnt body found after Nut Grove blaze formally identified as a missing child- Antigua Observer December 24, 2022, by Gemma Handy)

The people must never forget these cruel misdeeds against human beings and the predatory behavior of government officials.

There have been seven fires since the Nut Grove disaster: a car fire in front of St. John's Police Station, the overused Cooks Sanitary Landfill (CSL), four house fires, two in the Point, one in the Grays Green Community, the other in Swetes, and culminating with the most recent fire at a mechanic shop in Cassada Gardens on April 14, 2022. People living close to the site asserted that the long, dry grass started the fire, and the lack of fire trucks and water accelerated the conflagration.

So far, no justice is forthcoming in the fatal cases of Roberts and Cummins. The ALP government shut down these topics without an independent investigation. The government turned a deaf ear to investigative journalist Ida B Wells- Barnett's objectiveness, "The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them." 

Both episodes connect to the deadly failure and callousness of National Security Minister (NSM) Steadroy Benjamin and Fire Chief Elvis Weaver. People are increasingly demanding a seriously organized government strategy to provide water and alleviate the hardship of people shouldering the burden of their oppressors' embezzlement of public funds. The UN General Assembly for Sustainable Development, on September 25, 2015, spotlighted Target 16.5 of the 2030 Agenda: Substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms.

People are returning to bowls and buckets of water 'fu wash dem kin'  as King Short Shirt's Cry for Change grieves for the victims: "things really going from bad to worse." A well-suited narrative of life reality under the ALP government.

Worse! The ALP government's mismanagement is accountable for the death of firefighter David Roberts. Now the family and civil society must demand compensation because of the NSM's unjust practice according to the OHCHR Compensation 12 (b):

"The family, particularly dependants of persons who have died or become physically or mentally incapacitated due to such victimization."(Basic principles of justice for victims of crime and abuse of power- OHCHR)

Nonetheless, these life-threatening tribulations continue alongside the potential threat to aviation activity, which is fast becoming a crisis, as it's the second time airport firetrucks have been deemed unfixable between 2020 and 2021. Preceding Roberts's demise, Fire Brigade officials informed Benjamin about the 25-year-old fire truck brake failure. Benjamin is blameworthy for the deadly outcome, but is above the law!

Typically, self-evident concerning the lack of preventive maintenance practice, shortage of fire trucks, and no water, which further increases the slowness of emergency response. 

Comparable rickety firetrucks operating at the V C Bird International airport are in contravention of airline security and a serious hazard that points out faults in the Fire Brigade.

Before the fire truck incident at the VCBIA, NSM Benjamin had pledged one vehicle per year as of 2021 and constantly repeated those misleading words. The fire trucks are more dilapidated, and new inventory is needed to avert other crises. (More new fire trucks ahead by Elesha George- Antigua Observer).

Notably, the dawning on February 27 made known government failings as a car shattered a traffic pole and caught fire on impact in front of the St. John's Police Station. The disclosure that a firetruck had to travel 13.2 km (8.2021 miles) from All Saints to reach the fire, which was 24 minutes away, is disturbing. Not only that, but there was neither a firetruck in working condition nor water in St. John's. 

This negligence further exemplifies the twin crises of ALP indifference and lack of empathy!

Next was the tire conflagration at the Cooks Landfill on Friday, March 4, 2022. This environmental disaster is the fifth since the Cooks Sanitary Landfill (CSL) opened in 2005. By 2012, CSL could not cope with the nation's waste demands and constant fires, such as the colossal tire fire on August 23, 2015, at CSL. (The National Solid Waste Management Authority is closely monitoring the situation at The Cooks Dump - August 25 & 26, 2015 - abstvradio.com)

On October 18, 2021, General Manager of NSWMA Daryl Spencer lamented the shortage of equipment and the inability to contain the fire at the CSL without the help of the private sector: 

"We have had to address the private sector to try to get additional equipment to cover the burning area.."(National Solid Waste Management Authority, contains fire at Cooks Landfill -20 October 2021)

  

Less than a year later, evidence of the equipment shortage remains apparent. The recent remarks of GM Spencer that firefighters from three fire stations responded, All Saints, St. John's, and Coolidge, in addition to two corporate citizens who promptly appeared with water trucks, contradict the commissioning of additional equipment to assist in a crisis. 

(Landfill fire scorches up to three acres of wasteland- by Elesha George, March 8, 2022).

Sadly, Spencer's attempt to cover up the NSM minister's shortcomings exposes the truth. Lies lies, and more lies about "..the loss of a year's worth of shredded tires and scrap metals from more than 200 derelict vehicles." 

Why would a year's worth of shredded tires still be on the premises?

With the unavailability of fire trucks and water, the great dump of tires burned viciously for more than ten days, blackening the sky. Imagine constantly extorting the environmental levy and creating havoc on the climate.

Coincidentally, the Antigua and Barbuda government touts the virtues of implementing climate change safeguards, yet it is the most destructive on climate change, vilifying community activism and vigilance. The government's lax landfill policy has created a looming crisis that has evolved into a subsequent fire hazard, confirming the findings of David Spencer, a former manager at the National Solid Waste Management Authority, who stresses that the landfill should have been closed in 2012. 

On March 10, 2022, a fire in the Point community left four homes charred to ruins and two damaged in the aftermath of the monstrous flames engulfing homeowners' equity and leaving several people homeless.

Timely was the presence of a water truck contractor during the March 10 fiře, whereas the Point community fire hydrant had no water.

A call for the All Saints 369-gallon fire truck and two more fire trucks gave a boost to fight the inferno: ".. one from the port and another from a private gentleman who committed to working with us," according to Fire Chief Elvis Weaver. (Outpouring of love for fire-hit Point families left counting the cost of the devastating blaze - Saturday, March 12, 2022 - Antigua Observer)

A question preceding the simultaneous fires in the Sweets and the Point community became evident on March 26, and the lack of fire trucks was apparent. The reliable All Saints fire truck and the firefighters assigned to both fires were overwhelmed. The fire razed two abandoned homes in the Point community.

The ALP government continues to make poor use of public funds, bankrupting the community

and putting livelihoods at risk.

To be continued...