peter.christistopher@guardian.co.tt
Members of the public who visited the Traffic Branch on Garden Road in Aranguez yesterday interacted with officers in the open air, as officers moved their desks outside the building to protest the lack of air conditioning at the facility.
The officers placed their tables to the front of the building, where they interacted with the public.
Guardian Media was told that the building, which also houses officers attached to the Guard and Emergency Branch and the Inter-Agency Task Force, had been without air conditioning for several months, prompting this action from the officers.
President of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Social and Welfare Association Inspector Gideon Dickson said he was made aware of the issue and the association visited the officers concerning the issue yesterday.
“We were just there for a site visit across there and as a matter of fact, I can say that the officers must be commended for bearing the conditions because they have some issues with the air condition across there as we speak. But we were able to trigger a response from the general police facility personnel who would have sent air-condition technicians across there,” said Dickson, who added that the technicians had promised to resolve the situation overnight.
“They proposed to work throughout the night so its a matter of sourcing the part. The parts will be sourced before the evening is out, and the technicians are prepared to work throughout the night to bring about relief,” he said.
Dickson said the officers had stuck through the difficult situation as there had been word that they were to be relocated in the near future, but the situation became unbearable as officers awaited word concerning their relocation.
“The information we have is that they have already sourced an alternate building for officers to move into. There are in the final stages of ensuring that the building is in fact outfitted, so that information was communicated to the senior officers and the officers on the ground today,” Dickson noted.