Speaking before he was made aware of the costs, Assistant Chief Minister Paul Routier urged the volunteer crew to ‘return to their positions’ after they walked out following the removal of coxswain Andy Hibbs by RNLI managers.
Senator Routier said in a statement: ‘Supporting lifeboats is in our blood and we feel passionately about the service. I would therefore ask the crew to return to their positions while this dispute is resolved.’
A UK crew has been drafted in to man the St Helier all-weather vessel.
Three additional firefighters were brought in on Saturday and Sunday to man the service’s inshore lifeboat in case duty crews were busy dealing with another incident.
Mark James, the Fire and Rescue Service’s chief fire officer, said that the overtime figure would increase further if the service provides cover for the four-day bank holiday weekend.
The crew walked out in protest on Friday after Mr Hibbs, who has been with the RNLI for 24 years, was effectively fired by the charity.
- AN article published on the front page of Wednesday’s JEP may have incorrectly implied that Senator Paul Routier called for the St Helier RNLI crew to ‘return to their positions’ for financial reasons. This was in fact not the case and Senator Routier was not aware of the costs, incurred by the fire service to provide weekend lifeboat cover. He was instead calling on the crew to return ‘so they can continue the work that is so highly valued by Islanders’. The error is regretted.
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