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Well planned - Caymanas Park set for upgraded water facilities

Published:Friday | February 21, 2020 | 12:11 AMRobert Bailey/Gleaner Writer
UNIVERSAL BOSS on his way to victory in the 11th race at Caymanas Park on Saturday, February 8. The venue is set for construction of a new well, which will better serve this and other horses and personnel working there.
Kenyon Hemans
UNIVERSAL BOSS on his way to victory in the 11th race at Caymanas Park on Saturday, February 8. The venue is set for construction of a new well, which will better serve this and other horses and personnel working there.

Supreme Ventures Racing and Entertainment Limited (SVREL) chairman Solomon Sharpe said the construction of a new well on the grounds of Caymanas Park is set for completion at the end of the March.

Caymanas Park, which is located in Gregory Park, St Catherine, currently has two wells, one is which is now defunct, while the other is operating below its capacity. SVREL says that the current licence for extraction from the existing well is 1,200 cubic metres, or 220 gallons per minute. It says also that, on completion of the new well, the Water Resource Authority will examine the capacity and adjust the licence for the venue accordingly.

While the official cost of construction of this well by SVREL has not been disclosed, The Gleaner understands that the gaming company is spending an estimated figure of over $50 million on its construction.

Addressing the water shortage

Sharpe says that the new well will address the water shortage on the property and water will soon be available for use by everyone.

“It is something that had to happen because when you have an industrial plant like we do with over 1,100 horses, the racetrack takes gallons and gallons of water each day,” Sharpe said.

“It also gets hot, it’s dusty, and windy, so how do you keep the dust down? You need to be at 250 gallons per minute and that puts you at just about enough to be able to cover the track and cover the nuances of the horses on the whole compound.”

United Racehorse Trainers Association of Jamaica president Ryan Darby said that he is happy that this new well is coming on stream because it will make life easier for all stakeholders involved.

“We have been waiting and suffering for this because we have water problems over here,” said Darby. “But this has improved with Supreme Ventures in recent times, and so we, the trainers, are happy,” he said.

“The new well will solve the problem permanently because it is near completion now and this is another good move from Supreme Ventures,” Darby said. “We will be able to work a lot more comfortably whenever it is completed, so we as trainers are feeling very happy about this.”