By Richard Digard
HAD this been a normal weekend, I’d have been updating you on the situation across the water where Guernsey, which once had so much money it didn’t know what to do with it, is now at risk of going bust. Serious but worthy of a little levity, as Jersey has said all along that we’d need GST after embracing zero-ten and now this unpopular new tax is finally being proposed.
But the appalling news over the weekend and Sunday’s update that what started as a rescue operation after the explosion off Pier Road is now a heartbreaking recovery situation, makes the usual Jersey versus Guernsey humour inappropriate.
It does, however, raise a very real question: how do these islands cope at times of significant stress?
Given the presumed loss of life and the total collapse of Haut du Mont flats, I’m assuming this is the worst peacetime disaster to hit Jersey and so – mercifully – unknown territory for all those involved in dealing with the incident.
The response after the explosion, which literally rocked St Helier, was immediate and massive, and possible only because Jersey has the financial resources to retain the highly-skilled emergency teams and provide the infrastructure they and the survivors needed immediately.
Seamlessly, because for most of us the planning, training and organisation that make it possible is invisible. Personnel assisting included the South-West Hazardous Area Response Team, an urban search-and-rescue team from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service and Guernsey offered assistance as well if required.
This is revealing. Governments and their employees regularly get criticised for things they don’t do or get wrong. They rarely get credit for the things they do well or below the radar – incident planning, resource allocation, commissioning major incident support packages and basically being prepared for disaster, like that on Saturday.
What is happening in Pier Road and the people who are involved in that is testament to the work and preparation – unseen, unremarked – that we all take for granted when tragedy does strike and what was previously scenario planning becomes bitter reality.
Jersey and Guernsey are fortunate their communities can afford significant front-line services to deal with major incidents and politicians who, over the years, have been persuaded to maintain assets that, while expensive, are thankfully little used.
The other significant asset both islands have is their relationship with the UK. That, too, is largely taken for granted or even questioned.
Yet being able to call when needed on the expertise, skills and resources of what is still a world power and receive that assistance in a direct and unquestioning way is beyond value.
The islands’ relationship with the UK isn’t friction-free but it is beneficial.
Even supporters of Brexit acknowledge that breaking with Europe has come at a huge and still emerging cost. A CI split from Britain would come with similar unknown and unquantifiable consequences.
As an example, when Guernsey was dealing with the Covid pandemic and Southampton Airport closed because airlines stopped flying, patients needing either emergency or routine but vital treatment were at risk of losing what was literally a lifeline link to Southampton General Hospital and its other facilities.
‘No problem,’ came the response from the UK. ‘If you can find a plane [hurrah for Aurigny] we’ll get you an RAF base to use…’
The other aspect of island life that such incidents underscore is the strength of the public sector. Yes, all government employees are underworked and overpaid and there are too many of them but when the chips are down they are a massive asset.
Guernsey saw this during Covid, and I’m sure it was the same here.
Managing and organising the islands’ response was a massive operation and staffing the testing and vaccination facilities alone was a huge undertaking, and all done with a minimum of political oversight. Or perhaps that should be ‘interference’, because many of the senior officials I’ve spoken to said it wouldn’t have been possible under the usual levels of questioning while a ‘just make it happen’ approach from Deputies made sure it did.
So how we cope in a crisis is clearly an issue. In the months ahead, as Jersey comes to terms with the weekend’s dreadful explosion and aftermath, there will be some form of appraisal of how the emergency services handled the situation and accessed the support they needed.
No doubt there will be lessons that can be learned but the standout for me is that the islands, for all their tiny size, have the immediate capability to respond to such terrible incidents and then swiftly bring in additional help as required. That’s down to planning, geographical location and enduring relationships and the officials who have to think of these things on our behalf.
Jersey and those closely affected by Saturday’s tragedy will need a lot of time to come to terms with what has happened but if there is one bright spot in the terrible event it is this.
These islands are fortunate to be able to cope with a crisis and have communities strong enough to manage when the unthinkable happens.
