The JLA, made up largely of crew members who were stood down following a heated dispute with the RNLI last year, are set to unveil their plans, including fundraising measures and when they hope to have a boat, next week.
And the organisation’s chairman, Ben Shenton, has said that once the JLA are established, the RNLI may leave Jersey, as it would make little sense to have a valuable lifeboat facility in a ‘jurisdiction that already has their own lifeboat’.
Earlier this week, External Relations Minister Sir Philip Bailhache said that having two all-weather lifeboats stationed in Jersey would be ‘absurd’ as he backed calls to launch a committee of inquiry to uncover fully the rift between the RNLI and the former crew.
In his proposition, Sir Philip said Islanders ‘need to know exactly what happened and what went wrong’ so that a decision could be made for the long-term interests of Jersey seafarers.
The relationship between the charity and Jersey volunteers broke down following the sacking of coxswain Andy Hibbs in April. Mr Hibbs was subsequently re-instated and given a letter of apology from the RNLI.
However, the tensions continued to escalate and came to a head last November when the charity closed the St Helier station and relocated the George Sullivan all-weather lifeboat to Poole as the relationship between crew and the organisation’s senior members deteriorated beyond repair.
The RNLI is currently training a replacement crew but the JLA’s campaign to establish an independent lifeboat has gathered significant public support, including a 7,000-signature petition.
Mr Shenton said: ‘From our point of view we are concentrated on setting ourselves up as a charity. We are pleased that he [Sir Philip] has stepped forward to support the cause for a committee of inquiry – it is important for the whole Island to understand what went wrong.
‘With regard to having two lifeboats, I doubt that is a long-term possibility. I doubt the RNLI will want to keep a resource in Jersey if it is already covered by another crew.’
Senator Bailhache’s proposals were an amendment to a proposition lodged by Senator Sarah Ferguson – a JLA board member – calling for an inquiry to look into the removal of the George Sullivan last year.
And Mr Shenton said that while he did not think the States should necessarily provide financial backing to the newly formed JLA, he hoped government would support the crew by reducing certain fees for the charity.
‘In terms of financial backing we will need assistance from the States to help us find a base and have somewhere to moor the boat,’ he said. ‘There was a situation with Durrell recently where the Environment Minister [Steve Luce] reduced the fees to the charity. I would hope we aren’t lumbered with large mooring fees.
‘It is about basically not charging us to provide a facility that the Island wants and needs.’
The proposition for an inquiry into the relationship breakdown is due to be debated on Tuesday 20 March.
