Woodford Square lights to bring back hope in TT

PRESIDENT of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association, (DOMA) Gregory Aboud, yesterday said that while the project to “light up” Woodford Square for the Christmas season would not solve the problems in the country, it would bring the opportunity for focusing on the joys of the festive season and build hope for a better nation. He called on the business community and the corporate sector to show leadership and unity, so that the majority of the citizens, who still believe the nation could solve its problems and work together to build a better nation, may have some hope. At a press briefing to announce plans to light up Woodford Square for the upcoming season, Aboud said he believed that by focusing on the joy of Christmas, we would encourage those who are working for a better country and also remind ourselves we are a beautiful people and can make Trinidad a great nation.

Aboud said he believed the project would continue to move from strength to strength and called on the business community to show its support. He said while sponsorship may not be 100 percent this year, he believed the success of this venture would encourage others to support the project next year. Project manager Eden Ballah said the idea was to light up the entire square and not “a tree here and a tree there.” He said when he first told his mother about the project, she became excited and said Woodford Square was the place to meet friends at Christmas in the past. She told him the area used to be beautifully decorated and people would look forward to that every year. Ballah said he was hoping to recapture that essence of Woodford Square through this project.

He said he had been working on the project for the last couple of months and was looking forward to the official opening on December 5. As part of the project, more than 73 trees in Woodford Square would be lit up in a gala ceremony that is being hailed as a local interpretation of the annual lighting of the tree at Rockefeller Centre in New York. Ballah said the project, an initiative of DOMA, was intended to be a symbol of brighter things to come and a reminder that despite some of the unfortunate circumstances and events that have plagued the country within recent times, “you, our corporate citizens are shining examples of hope, good service and commitment to the nation.” “This event,” said Ballah, “represented the beauty, goodness, the joy of the season and our hope for our country.”