Search on for Lucea mural-defacing culprit
Published:Monday | April 18, 2022 | 12:06 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
AN INVESTIGATION has been launched by the Hanover police, as residents of Lucea search for the individual who used black paint to deface a recently painted mural in the town centre.
The mural, which was done under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development’s recently launched ‘Paint the City, Paint the Town’ multimillion-dollar national beautification project, was officially unveiled by Minister Desmond McKenzie on Friday, April 8. It was discovered that someone had used black paint to put markings in the centre of the mural days later.
Mayor of Lucea and chairman of the Hanover Municipal Corporation (HMC), Sheridan Samuels, did not try to hide the fact that he was terribly upset about the ugly deed, while making his opening announcements at the April meeting. He noted that he is not aware of what penalties are applicable under the laws of the land for such a dastardly act, adding that he is hoping the culprit is caught and the full extent of the law applied.
“I can report that the police are not feeling well about it. They have mentioned to me that they would want to know who has done this. They are doing some investigations of the matter to see if they can find out who is responsible for treating our town this way,” he stated.
Amid full agreement that defacing the sign is a despicable act, councillor for the Green Island division, Marvell Sewell, highlighted that the town is in need of CCTV cameras.
“This is not something that we should take lightly, because I can remember when residents used to lash out at us about how the town looks, so I really think that with the help of the ministry (of Local Government) we should look at establishing cameras within the town,” he argued.
In an interview with The Gleaner, councillor for the Lucea division, Easton Edwards, argued that there are still persons around who do not understand what it means to have some amount of civic pride.
A SENSE OF PRIDE
“We have been trying for years, people have been complaining that we were not moving in the right direction, and now that we are getting the place looking like a real town, with the beautification project, that act takes place. These people need to have some sense of pride,” he emphasised.
He added that there needs to be some amount of continuous education of the populace to show that “we are all in this together”.
Samuels told The Gleaner that his ire has stemmed from the amount of negative labelling that the present local government political directorate has been getting over the years, and now that they have done something positive, which has been recognised internationally, such an act was carried out.
“To know that someone has gone out to deface the work in that manner is really worse than an atrocity to the entire parish of Hanover in general, and the town of Lucea in particular. Persons have been complaining, persons are upset, and it is like a manhunt out there now searching for the individual who did that act,” he stated.
He observed that the same colour spray paint was used on other painted areas in the town, at one point with the name “Babadon”.
“So, right now we are trying to find out who this Babadon is and what the sign means,” he stated.