HMC admits to not getting value for money at Watson Taylor Park

WESTERN BUREAU:

The Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC) appears set to hand over the control of the Watson Taylor Park in Lucea to a group known as ‘Friends of the Watson Taylor Park’, which has made an application to manage the facility, as the HMC is not convinced that it is getting value for money under the existing arrangement.

According to Lucea Mayor Sheridan Samuels, vast sums of monies are being paid out for the upkeep of the park, but based on its shoddy appearance, he is of the view that the HMC is being short-changed.

The Friends of Watson Taylor Park group, which consists of several influential residents of Lucea, including some who are now living outside of the parish and overseas, recalls happy childhood memories playing at the park and desperately wants to restore it to its former glory.

Following a recent presentation to the HMC by John Campbell and Deniese Hudson, two members of the group, in which they made a compelling case to be given the opportunity to oversee the park, Samuels publicly agreed that the management of the park was not up to standard.

RECREATION

According to Campbell, the park was once a place where families went for recreation and a popular place for hosting group picnics.

In agreeing that the existing arrangement at the park was not up to expectation, Samuels sought to insulate himself from any blame, saying the upkeep of the park was the responsibility of the Roads and Works Department.

“It is a disgrace, the state of the park right now, knowing that we (the HMC) have been paying workers to take care of the park, to cut it. Workers are even living in the building down there, and [they] allow the park to be in the state it is,” lamented Samuels.

“We have been paying people to take care of the park, paying people for not doing anything at Watson Taylor Park, and I am upset about it. I even see where we have to sign something for a gentleman that does not do any work down there but getting paid this fortnight. We employ four people to work down there and God knows what the Roads and Works Department allows them to get paid for,” said Samuels.

Samuels said the request by the Friends of Watson Taylor Park to take over the park could be a blessing, based on their commitment to restoring it.

When The Gleaner visited the park, it was overgrown with knee-high weeds which in some areas, were at waist height. The workers there said they are not to be blamed, as they are not getting the tools to work with.

“We want machete, file, little gas and rake fi work wid,” one worker told The Gleaner.