Steam Clock (FOI)

​Request

Jogging around the harbour on the weekend, I was aghast to see that the warning sign on the steam clock about the risks of approaching too close and being burnt by escaping steam is worn and difficult to read. Naturally I flinched after leaning close to decipher it, before I recalled that the clock is currently an ex-steam clock (converted to electric). Then I recalled that some pessimistic souls consider it an ex-steam clock in the sense of having "kicked the bucket", "shuffled off the mortal coil", "run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible", in essence an ex-clock. Not so. It is right twice a day and it has been so for years.

So I ask:

Do the States intend to refurbish this very necessary piece of signage to prevent small children and myopic perambulators from being seriously singed when, inevitably, this clock is restored to its former steam driven glory?

This must be done as soon as possible in anticipation of repairs (one might forget afterwards, distracted by the heady hiss of steam that tells the time with an accuracy approaching the common wristwatch or telephone). The cost of a coat of paint on a sign cannot be so great and our Health and Safety legislation demands that the States make such plant as safe as they practicably can for visitors to our harbour and the surrounds.

Response

The Government of Jersey do not own the Steam Clock or the site that it sits on.

The clock is owned by the Ports of Jersey who are not a Scheduled Public Authority and therefore not subject to the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

You may however wish to re-direct your request directly to them at ask@ports.je or by letter to Ports of Jersey, St Peter, Jersey, JE1 1BY.