By Neto Baptiste
Independent political hopeful for the Rural West Constituency and Vice President of the King George V Restoration Society, Anderson E. Carty, has taken umbrage over a decision by government to embark on a lighting initiative at the popular park without first consulting with the members of the body.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo Sports Show, Carty said that the members of the Restoration Society were surprised when heavy duty machinery visited the facility to begin the process.
“We just had a gentleman in Mr. Luther Lee and his team appear at the facility and began to dig some holes about eight to nine feet in depth; they had taken down the lights that are currently [were] mounted. We are finding it strange that there was a need to remove the lights before this project is completed and so we just want to say to Mr. Lee that those lights belong to the society and we would like them to be returned to the centre. We prefer that they remain mounted until the project is completed,” he said.
Carty, who is also a member of the community and a sports enthusiast who has sponsored the community football league, said the body charged with managing the facility had already engaged the services of an engineer as to how and where lights at the venue should be positioned.
He revealed also that plans are to bring the facility up to FIFA standards.
“Now, the gentleman who engaged us in Mr. Wesley James who is the deputy director of Public Works, and we know him to be an engineer by profession with many years of experience, and in our presence, he tried to invite Mr. Luther Lee to have a conversation about the proper placement of the lights in the facility, and that conversation was ended prematurely after the deputy director asked the gentleman what method did he used to determine where the lights should be placed, for the kind of effect to ensure that the facility is given clearance by the international body for the purpose of hosting certain games,” he said.
Carty said they are still open to having dialogue with the proper authorities on the way forward.
“There is a committee in place for the King George V Restoration Society which is responsible for the upkeep of the grounds and this is a legitimate and properly registered community organisation with responsibility for the facility, and we were quite surprised that nobody has contacted the society for the purpose of consultation and to inform us that the project was beginning in earnest,” he said. A former president of the basketball association, Carty is also title sponsor of the Empire Nation cricket team.