Monument to be erected honouring Kendal crash victims

The Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport and the Manchester Municipal Corporation (MMC) on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding for the erection of a monument in honour of the victims of the Kendal Train Crash of 1957.

Olivia Grange, minister of culture, gender, entertainment and sport, signed on behalf of the ministry, while Mandeville Mayor Donovan Mitchell signed for the MMC.

In a statement, the ministry said it would provide the $7.9 million which it will cost to build the monument, scheduled to be unveiled on September 1, marking the 68th anniversary of the rail mishap which was the worst in the history of Jamaica and among the worst in the world.

The monument will be followed by the construction of a memorial park, with the plan being to build a museum to complement the monument and memorial park. The monument will be erected by the MMC, which later will create the memorial park and museum. The idea is that people will visit the location from time to time and pay homage to those who suffered and died in the incident.

In recalling the Kendal railway disaster during the signing ceremony, Grange said, “That night in 1957, even as the nation celebrated with pride that Jamaica was among the first countries in the Western Hemisphere to have a railway system, the unimaginable happened.

“The train, operated by the Jamaica Railway Corporation, was on its way from Montego Bay to Kingston, when it separated from the tracks as it approached Kendal. None of that was expected.

“Scores of worshippers from St Anne’s Catholic Church in Kingston had decided to make a Sunday pilgrimage to Montego Bay on that day. They, like so many others on other occasions, had decided to go back and forth by train.

“There were 170 dead and another thousand survivors trying to find their families or clambering to escape the mangled wreckage.”

Grange noted that last year, she sought the support of Governor General Sir Patrick Allen in proclaiming September 1 as the National Day of Remembrance of the Victims and Survivors of the Kendal disaster.

“We created this day of remembrance because it was the right thing to do. It wasn’t right that we, as a country, did not come together to reflect and remember the people involved and affected by this great tragedy.

“So we will never forget those who died; [who] were injured and scarred for life; those who survived; and a whole nation that mourned when dawn came the following day and news of the incident spread.

“We must also pause to hail the responders, first, second and third responders, who went to the assistance of the wounded. On any occasion of disaster, we should display our duty to each other, helping rather than filming for entertainment.”

Bauxite company Windalco, on whose lands the disaster occurred, has provided land for the erection of the monument and memorial park.