A savannah in the West, finally?

This sign proposes that the site is earmarked for a recreational park.

A former mayor of Port-of- Spain, Louis Lee Sing, held a meeting on that site promising to use it to create a savannah in the west of Port-of-Spain. At the well attended meeting, held approximately three years ago, people shared ideas about what could be done and a committee was set up to pursue the goal of setting up this recreational park. Since then the site has been cleared, several loads of dirt have been spread and occasionally tractors can be seen moving the soil back and forth.

Very little progress otherwise has been made. There have been no public announcements by any agency and the committee set up by Lee Sing has not been heard from again.

With the PNM as the Government since 2015, along with a PNM-controlled Port-of- Spain Corporation, it means institutional and bureaucratic barriers to this project will be much reduced.

Given the closeness of this land to the constituency and home of the Prime Minister himself, given the need to conserve free recreational spaces in a highly populated region, given the manner in which public land has been appropriated in the Chaguaramas area by the last administration, and given the emphasis on citizen participation that the present Government advocated in the local government election, it is not too much for citizens to expect a reigniting of the conversation and planning towards the development of a savannah in the West in such a manner as to serve as many of the people as possible.

SAMUEL LOCHAN Westmoorings