Ministry blanks request for more staff

There is no intention by the Ministry of National Security to increase the number of lifeguards on duty in Maracas Bay, according to Branch Secretary of the National Union for Government and Federal Workers (NUGFW) Hollis Valdez.

Valdez and other representatives from the union met with officials from the National Security Ministry on Thursday to discuss arrangements for the lifeguards who have complained of small staff size and the provision of motorised vehicles. He said that the Ministry seems unwilling to provide additional resources to the life guards as they carry out their duties and said that such a non-committal response could have fatal consequences for both lifeguards and bathers alike.

“We’re not being taken seriously at all and its very frustrating. These are men and women who risk their lives on a daily basis and they are not getting the tools they need to get the job done. In the past few years the number of bathers coming to Maracas has doubled and the number of life guards on duty has not changed to meet the demand.” Newsday also spoke to Maracas lifeguard Mark Morton who said that there are only 14 lifeguards on duty and said that as the Carnival season approaches the number of people on the beach triples. He said that in addition to staff shortage, lifeguards continue to cope with dilapidated facilities and a lack of motorised vehicles. “At the moment we only have one ambulance at the Maracas post. We don’t have any jet skis or all terrain vehicles so we have to do the same job with more people with less resources.”

Comments

"Ministry blanks request for more staff"

More in this section