In a strongly worded letter to all Members, Deputy Steve Luce said that a committee of inquiry would only ‘prolong the animosity’ between the RNLI and the newly formed Jersey Lifeboat Association.
And he stated:
*The JLA will only continue to receive his support if they ‘stop their attacks’ on members of the search and rescue community.
*They must ‘desist in trying to replace the RNLI in Jersey’ and instead work alongside them.
*The group must show they can work with the Jersey Coastguard who the JLA ‘suggest is complicit in some form of cover-up’.
Deputy Luce issued the letter ahead of a States debate this week where Members will be asked to vote on whether a committee of inquiry into the circumstances which led to the relationship breaking down should be set up.
The minister, who was asked by Chief Minister Ian Gorst to lead the States’ response into the dispute, said: ‘There is a lot of information in the public domain that confirms that this lifeboat dispute began over petty and trivial matters. These were operational disputes rooted in personal squabbles.
‘All parties made mistakes. We already know and acknowledge this. However, States Members, mariners and the public at large are now being pressured to choose sides by the Jersey Lifeboat Association, when the most important components of search and rescue at sea are co-operation and team work.
‘This frankly unacceptable situation has gone on for far too long.’
He said there is ‘nothing to be gained’ in forcing the RNLI and JLA to re-engage, and added: ‘Both sides have concluded that their relationship is broken. We have to move on. A committee of inquiry will only prolong the animosity. It will neither change nor improve the situation.’
However, Ben Shenton, chairman of the JLA, has argued that an inquiry would allow the public to know ‘the truth’ about the rift and ‘clear the air’, allowing both sides to move on and work together.
Tensions between RNLI officials and the St Helier volunteer crew came to a head last November when the charity closed the St Helier station and took the George Sullivan all-weather lifeboat to Poole. A number of the former St Helier crew are now helping establish the JLA and will crew its vessel once it has been purchased.
The RNLI, meanwhile, have got the inshore vessel back in service and are currently training a new crew for the all-weather boat.
In his letter, Deputy Luce said: ‘If the JLA can stop their attacks on others in the search-and-rescue community and work towards providing our Island with additional resources, working with Jersey Coastguard and alongside other SAR assets including the RNLI, then they will continue to receive my support. However, if they persist in their stated aim of replacing the RNLI in St Helier and Jersey more widely, then I will oppose them.’
Mr Shenton said the dispute needed investigation and a committee of inquiry would be the best way of doing that in an ‘honest and independent manner’.
He said: ‘The public need to understand what has happened and whether the JLA deserve their support.
‘Without a committee of inquiry the conspiracy theories will get worse and worse and the chances of any line in the sand being drawn decrease.
‘The JLA, and I think the RNLI too, would welcome a complete clearing of the air so that we can move forward.’
He added that he, and other members of the JLA, had had meetings with the Harbourmaster and Ports of Jersey, and were committed to a ‘professional relationship’ with all involved in search and rescue operations in the Island.
Last week a report, commissioned by the States and carried out by Guernsey’s Harbourmaster, criticised both the RNLI and former coxswain Andy Hibbs over the breakdown in the relationship.
The debate is due to be held later this week.
