President of the Police Service Social and Welfare Association Sgt Anand Ramesar says civilians attached to the Police Mounted Branch will walk off their jobs if health issues at the branch are not addressed. He said conditions at the branch on Long Circular Road, St James, continue to deteriorate.
In an interview, Ramesar said: "We have been alerted to their concerns and the action by the PSA in this matter.
"We are prepared to call upon our members (police officers) to remove themselves from that compound should any inquiries review that their health is being threatened." Civilians working at the branch have been threatening protest action at the branch. Representatives of the Public Service Association visited the branch on December 6 and advised the mounted aides and groomsmen to sign in and leave because of the unsanitary conditions. When contacted, Deputy Police Commissioner Maurice Piggott said he was aware of the conditions at the branch.
He said, "We are fully aware of that and proposals were sent. Things were pushed back with the change of administration." However, Piggott assured that measures would be taken to address the problem.
Senior officers admitted that PSA representatives visited the compound and noted the conditions of the stalls, buildings and manure mounds. The exposed manure pile which is west of the horse boxes creates a breeding place for insects, flies and encourages skin diseases, a senior officer said.
The senior officer said a vet assigned to the branch complained that a fan should even be used in the horse stalls because of the fly infestation. Thousands of students and parents normally visit the branch every month despite these grave concerns on the compound, a spokesman said. The officers said they had made requests to members of the Police Service executive to upgrade the facility but nothing had been done to address the problem.
During a recent tour of the compound, a Guardian news team observed horse stalls which needed to be cleaned; the surfaces needed to be paved. There were also flies in the stalls. The building which was built in 1808 is a remnant of the colonial days. Within the past few months officers who had to clean the horse and canine stalls in their own clothing were given industrial gloves and boots.
They also moved from garden hoses and rakes to power washers. The Mounted and Canine Branch held its first Christmas party with an employee appreciation dinner this year. Attempts to contact Assistant Commissioner Wayne Richards and Snr Supt Harold Cumberbatch proved futile.