Minister: No major costs to Gov’t due to rescheduling

Government has not incurred any major costs on account of its decision to reschedule some of the Independence celebrations and to move the parade to Kensington Oval.

 

That’s the word from Minister of Labour, Social Security and Human Resource Development and Deputy Chairman of the 50th Anniversary of Independence Celebrations Coordinating Committee, Dr. Esther Byer Suckoo. 

 

She was speaking to the media yesterday afternoon as she offered an update on the 50th Anniversary of Independence celebrations, which had to be rescheduled as a result of the heavy rains and flooding which occurred on Tuesday.

 

“The infrastructure for the unveiling is already up and that’s not changing; we are using what you’ve seen in place. Folks have been passing the Garrison over the last couple of days and they have seen the tents and everything up, so that requires no change. The concert that was already set for tonight [Wednesday]… that will go on. So except for moving a few little things around, there are no major costs with moving the parade because the parade in itself does carry a lot of infrastructure,” she said.

 

She added, “The seating is already in place, so we don’t have to bring new tents and all of that into place for the parade. So thankfully this is not going to incur any major expense.”

 

Byer Suckoo said that the decision to move the parade to Kensington Oval, while a departure from the norm, had to be taken as the usual alternative, the Bridgetown Port, cannot accommodate the troops at this time. She explained that there are a number of containers in the Port and with even more detachments expected to be on parade this year, the space would not be big enough.

 

“We have a lot of people coming out to be a part of that parade and they wouldn’t have enough elbow room at all to manoeuvre if we had gone to the Port. So after the concert tonight we will get everything pulled down, so that by tomorrow evening the Oval will be ready for us to have our parade,” she stated.

 

She added, “We are keeping our fingers crossed at this time, nobody really wants to consider that we would have to push things back a little further. Thankfully we are able to reschedule things so that folks who are visiting from the Diaspora, as well as the Prince and his entourage, they would still be here in time to catch all of those major activities if they go according to the schedule that we have for now.”

 

Her comments came she said that they are still keeping an eye on the weather and with the Met Office as part of their planning team, she said they are getting guidance. She further indicated that even if there is a rain they are confident that the Oval can “sustain a bit of water”. Moreover, she added that while the detachments are not likely to be able to do a run through at the Oval before tonight, as the stage is not being dismantled until this morning, they do not believe it would pose a problem for them as they have been rehearsing their routines for some time now.

 

The parade is scheduled for 6 p.m. this evening and once it is finished, the troops are expected to march through Bridgetown. (JRT)