SIX years after the firebomb attack on the Campus Trendz store which claimed the lives of six young ladies, the question is still being asked by individuals from various cross-sections of society as to why nothing has been done about stores in Bridgetown which have a similar layout in terms of only one entrance/exit.
Speaking at a press conference at the Clement Payne Centre recently, Co-ordinator of the September 3rd Foundation, David Comissiong, expressed his disappointment that this issue has yet to be addressed by the relevant authorities.
“Six years later, the very things that we have targeted, that we have complained about and targeted in the lawsuit, little or no action has been taken to correct those things. So it is very disheartening and one would wish to question, ‘Do the authorities only respond when the law courts inflict the punishment?’”
He stated that they were not in place at that particular store and they aren’t in place in many of the smaller stores in Bridgetown.
“We know that they weren’t in place at that particular store and many of us know that they still aren’t in place in many other stores, so the question is, ‘Why after such a tragedy, have we not seen serious action?’ It is really shameful and hard questions should be asked of the Government of Barbados as to why six years after such a tragedy, we have not seen any serious or concerted effort to rectify the many defects that exist of so many of these buildings and shops that occupy these buildings.”
The Attorney-at-Law stated that after this in-cident took place, a concerted effort should have taken place to address this issue.
“The authorities should have opened up after the event of September 3rd, 2010 and should have embarked on a serious and comprehensive programme to address these deficiencies. You know, there should have been some national programme to address them and we have seen no evidence of that and that is what is shameful.”
This is another reason why they have decided to file this lawsuit, he said. “We hope that now that the two criminal cases are over, we would have a clear outline as to the steps that would lead us pretty soon to our day in court, because it seems that it is only a day in court that would get over the message that something needs to be done about these substandard conditions in which so many of the workers in Barbados are forced to function in.”
In fact, Comissiong notes that this lawsuit and its outcome is what would drive the authorities to take the necessary action that he believes should have already been taken.
“It seems to be that they are waiting for the determination of this lawsuit before doing the things that they really should have been doing as soon as that tragedy occurred. As soon as that tragedy occurred, there should have been a proper investigation and out of that proper investigation by the relevant governmental authorities, should have come a serious action plan to deal with this issue of inadequate fire escapes, inadequate firefighting equipment, inadequate regulations being applied to these structures and businesses. Yet none of that seems to have been done.” (PJT)
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