KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Jamaica National Heritage Trust, responding to directives from culture minister Olivia Grange, says it has started restorative work on the statue of National Hero, Norman Manley located at the Sir William Grant Park in downtown Kingston.

The JNHT, in a release a short while ago, said that the restoration project, lead by its Conservations Department, comes amidst allegations of political bias reported in an article published on September 2, in The Sunday Gleaner.

According to the JNHT, the newspaper story alleged that the Trust was politically biased in conserving the statue of National Hero Alexander Bustamante while neglecting the conservation of National Hero, Norman Manley’s statue.

But Chairman of the JNHT Board of Trustees, Laleta Davis-Mattis, today sought to refute those claims asserting that “the mandate of the JNHT is to protect, preserve and promote Jamaica’s built heritage without bias to any group, individual or organisation.”

“While it may appear that one statue is being maintained over the other, I would like to inform the public that that’s not the case. While executing the conservation exercise for the statue of Sir Alexander Bustamante there was also an attempt made by the JNHT to conserve the statue of Norman Manley. Those plans were thwarted as checks revealed that the surface of the statue was painted which made the conservation procedure complicated,” Davis-Mattis said.

The JNHT explained that following an assessment of statue it was determined that analytical acetone was needed to remove the paint, while maintaining the structural integrity of the statue, before any conservation work could be done and that it took five months to acquire that specific type of acetone because it had to be outsourced overseas.

Grange, in a release last night, said that she had instructed to JNHT to begin restorative work on the statue beginning today.

Meanwhile, the JNHT is urging the public to refrain from painting bronze statues.

“While the JNHT appreciates the need to enhance the aesthetics of these spaces we encourage persons to consult us prior to the execution of same in order to receive either physical assistance or the technical training on how to preserve these works of art,” the Heritage Trust stated.