‘I am not satisfied’

WESTERN BUREAU:

Kenneth Brown, superintendent of roads and works at the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation (StEMC), has voiced disappointment over the condition of Independence Park in Black River, warning that the once vibrant recreational space has been left in a deplorable state after it was used as a temporary dumpsite in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.

Although the debris that was stockpiled at the location during the hurricane clean-up has since been removed, Brown said the grounds have been badly damaged, leaving large sections of the park as a muddy pit where grass once covered the playing surface.

Speaking at the general monthly meeting of the St Elizabeth Municipal Corporation yesterday, Brown told councillors that he was dissatisfied with the current state of the facility.

“Mr Chairman, as it relates to the Independence Park, I want to say that I am not satisfied with the current status of the park. While the debris has been removed, there is still mud and all of those things that are not a part of the surface, along with the perimeter wall still being down,” Brown said.

In the days following the hurricane, large volumes of storm debris – including fallen trees, damaged household items and other waste – were transported to the park as part of the parish-wide clean-up operation. The site served as a temporary holding area before the material was later removed by the National Solid Waste Management Authority.

Brown told councillors that the agency had completed the scope of work assigned to it.

“I have contacted the agency that is in charge of cleaning up, that is the solid waste, and they informed me that they have completed the scope of work for which they were given,” he said.

According to Brown, the matter was then referred to the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) for assistance in restoring the park to a suitable condition.

“They referred me to the UDC and I contacted them. The UDC indicated to me that they have not yet gotten any instructions or any resource or authority to do anything there. So it remains as it is until the council makes some decision as to how to proceed,” Brown explained.

He warned that restoring the park would require a major rehabilitation exercise.

ALTERNATIVES FOR PARK

“There are one or two alternatives: either we till the soil and use a grader to level it off and roll it, or we throw topsoil on it and replant the grass, which would include plowing and putting in drainage,” the superintendent of roads and works suggested.

“A reinstatement of the park would constitute a complete project.”

However, the statement drew a sharp response from Councillor Donovan Pagon, the councillor for the Brease River Division, who argued that the park should never have been used as a dumping site.

“That last statement is unacceptable because the park should not have been touched in the first place,” Pagon said.

He pressed Brown for answers about how the muddy surface would be restored.

“You are the technical man here. Explain to me as a politician and as a layman, how they are going to clean up the muck. Are they going to power-wash it off?” he asked.

Pagon also warned that unless urgent action is taken, the facility could remain unusable for the rest of the year.

“It looks like we are not going to get Independence Park to use for the rest of 2026,” he said.

Richard Solomon, chairman of the StEMC and mayor of Black River, acknowledged that the municipal corporation may have to seek outside support to restore the park.

“As the superintendent indicated, we have reached out to the UDC for us to get some support because as we are all aware, we are not in a position to take on that operation,” Solomon said.

Independence Park has long served as one of Black River’s main community spaces, hosting sporting activities, civic gatherings, and national celebrations, and its continued closure has left residents without one of the town’s key recreational venues.

In January, Solomon defended the use of the facility as a temporary dumping site to facilitate access to and from the parish capital, which was inundated from the passage of Melissa, which made landfall in western Jamaica as a Category 5 hurricane in October last year.

“The reality is that Hurricane Melissa came, and not everything we would have planned for was possible. Immediately after the hurricane, the town was inaccessible; major thoroughfares were blocked,” said Solomon. “NWA came to us and said the only way you are going to have access to the town is to have Independence Park as a temporary dumpsite.

“All the corridors were totally blocked, so it would have been impossible to utilise the main dumpsite.”

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com