by Linda Straker
- 2018 Children’s Carnival Frolic will be on 11 August
- Flooded ground floor of the National Stadium needs to be sanitised
Damage to the ground floor of the National Stadium from the flooding has resulted in one of the main carnival events being postponed.
The Spicemas Corporation (SMC) has announced that the 2018 Children’s Carnival Frolic (CCF) will be held on 11 August instead of the scheduled date of 4 August 2018.
The decision to postpone the Kiddies Carnival was made following a tour and inspection of the stadium facility by Culture Minister Norland Cox, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Culture; the Chief Cultural Officer; officials from the National Disaster Management Agency, the Royal Grenada Police Force and officials from the Ministry of Health.
“We are mindful that there are health issues, so we want to make sure that we sanitise the National Stadium. It’s CCF — we sell food there. Yes, it was flooded but it’s not just dirty water, it’s sewage water, it’s all different types of bacteria,” said Kirk Seetahal, Chief Executive Officer of SMC. “We have consulted the Ministry of Health, and they have told us that is the best way to go,” he added.
Staff at the National Stadium was seen on Thursday sweeping out debris from the water and mud-soaked ground floor of the facility.
The new date is also the same day for the senior Panorama competition. Seetahal said that to have all events on the same day, the Kiddies Carnival would start at 9 am, the Junior Panorama Competition will start at 2 pm, and the senior Panorama would start at 8 pm.
On that same night, the stadium is expected to be the venue for “the biggest white show”, and that is scheduled to get started after the senior panorama. An alternative venue was considered, but that is not in a condition to host the event.
On Wednesday, Grenada recorded 6 inches of rain in the Point Salines Area and more in the other parishes.
Following an emergency meeting of the National Emergency Advisory Council, on Thursday Government declared the parishes of St George and St David as disaster zones because of the damage caused by the flood. By declaring the areas disaster zones, government will provide financial and other resources to bring the areas back to normalcy. More than 60 landslides were recorded in the parish of St David while the figure for St George is yet to be finalised.
