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| Vandals destroyed seating at the Gardens Sporting Complex |
Basseterre, St. Kitts (March 18, 2007): The Ministry of Tourism, Sports and Culture has reissued an appeal for the general public to assist with the protection of sporting facilities and the conservation of electricity.
Reports from the Supervisor of Parks Orville Maynard and his support staff indicate that vandals have repeatedly damaged and defaced sporting facilities around St Kitts recently.
Damages range from broken windows and uprooted seats at the Garden Sporting Complex to the excretion of human waste in and around the stands at the recently refurbished Newtown Sporting Complex as well as destruction of lighting control meters.
Vehicles are also being driven directly unto various playing fields which degrade the quality of the turf and render it more difficult to cultivate a quality playing surface. Indiscriminate dumping of garbage is also taking place at some sporting facilities.
Electricity control token meters, a device installed to minimize the wastage of electricity, have also been repeatedly destroyed at the Sandy Point basketball Court as well as the Newton Ground Football Field.~~adz:Right~~
Token meters were installed at various playing fields and hard courts in October last year, to curb the practice of having the special halogen bulbs - which consume excessive amounts of electricity - left on late at night after play. Tokens are made available to persons/groups upon request for a moderate fee of $10.00.
"These expensive devices have been destroyed and replaced on several occasions by persons who recklessly and mischievously try to thwart procedures designed to protect the community's access to facilities," a ministry official said. "The Electricity Department, which installs and maintains the meters, is frustrated at the wanton acts of destruction and we are appealing to the public for assistance."
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| Bathrooms are one of the many rooms targeted by vandals |
To reinforce this point, the official cited the case at Sandy Point Hard Court where the timers on the meters were damaged and replaced on three separate occasions.
As such, equipment replacement orders had to be made which resulted in a delay in the provision of lighting for approximately four weeks.
The situation was rectified this past week at considerable cost to the Ministry.
It is hoped that residents will actively protect sporting facilities island wide through close monitoring and being vigilant to ensure that persons who tamper with the lighting control devices or otherwise abuse sporting facilities are reported to the police.
