KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange says she has given instructions to the Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) to immediately begin conservation work on the statue of National Hero Norman Manley in downtown Kingston

Grange, in a release last night, said she is disappointed at the lack of maintenance of the statue, located in the St William Grant Park, and insisted that the restoration process “must begin today”.

The ministry explained that the Manley statue, as well as that of Alexander Bustamante, was scheduled to be conserved at the same time. However, work on the Manley statue was delayed because someone had painted the sculpture and it therefore required a different and longer process of repair, which includes paint removal.

The minister expressed displeasure that it took the JNHT several months to reschedule the conservation of the Manley statue and instructed the agency to prioritise the conservation of monuments “to ensure that they are always in the best possible condition”.