This week a proposition from Senator Sarah Ferguson, and amended by Sir Philip Bailhache, calling for a committee of inquiry into the long-running disagreement was defeated, with Members opting to ‘draw a line in the sand’ under the matter.
Ben Shenton, chairman of the JLA, which was formed after the RNLI St Helier crew was stood down, said the group were ‘very disappointed’ that there would be no committee of inquiry into the dispute. The group was due to meet yesterday evening to discuss its next steps.
The relationship between the charity and St Helier crew members broke down following the sacking of coxswain Andy Hibbs last April. He was later reinstated but tensions continued to escalate.
The dispute came to a head in November when the charity closed the St Helier station and removed the George Sullivan all-weather lifeboat from its station and took it to Poole, standing down the crew in the process.
Mr Shenton said: ‘We are very disappointed, as the public will never know the degree to which public servants and politicians were involved in events leading to the removal of the George Sullivan lifeboat from Jersey.
‘The JLA have never said that we wished to replace the RNLI in Jersey, as stated by Deputy [Steve] Luce, and all efforts to meet with the RNLI have so far failed.
‘It is a David and Goliath struggle on behalf of around 40 volunteers that have been treated appallingly and it is sad that the majority of our politicians simply don’t care about their plight.’
Senator Ferguson had earlier withdrawn a proposition calling for States Members to offer their support to the JLA. During the lengthy debate, Environment Minister Steve Luce had argued that a committee of inquiry would only ‘prolong the animosity’ and said the investigation would take ‘12 months to tell us what we already know’.
He added: ‘A committee of inquiry will be tasked with a few questions. What happened? We already know. Who was responsible? We already know. What can be learnt from this? We already know.’ A number of Members said they supported the JLA and hoped it would be able to work alongside the RNLI to provide strong search-and-rescue services in Jersey.
However, Senator Bailhache, who was not present for the vote due to a prior commitment, said the only way to resolve the ‘sad dispute’ was to ensure that the ‘truth comes out’ by holding a committee of inquiry.
The proposal was rejected by 26 votes to 15.
