MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Culture Minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange has said the long promised monument to be erected in remembrance of the close to 200 people who died in a train crash at Kendal, north-east of here, on September 1, 1957, will be completed next year.

“The monument is being endorsed as a Jamaica 60 legacy project and my ministry looks forward to working along with all partners to erect and unveil the monument in 2023,” Grange said in a message read by Councillor Faith Sampson (Jamaica Labour Party, John’s Hall Division) during a service at the Manchester Parish Library last Thursday to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the tragedy.

“The Kendal tragedy is forever etched in our collective memory. Indeed, the very name Kendal evokes a sense of deep sadness and even pain,” added Grange.

The minister had declared September 1 Kendal Crash Day in 2017. That date has been commemorated since with the exception of 2020 when the novel coronavirus pandemic intervened.

On Thursday, custos of Manchester Garfield Green said that he is disheartened that the long promised monument was yet to be erected at the Kendal crash site.

“Jamaica had what was, and up to now, the worst train accident, and at the time it was the worst rail accident in the world…It is forever etched in the minds of many and it has formed part of the history of our nation and in particular Manchester,” he said.

“Despite the significance of this piece of history, we have failed to erect a monument and create a memorial park at the site where many were buried,” he added.

He said information on the crash should be made available at the site.

“This park would have served as a source of economic gains and as an educational centre for our people and become an attraction for both locals and visitors to our island. It would be a great thing to have this commemorative service at the actual crash site to lay the wreath there and to invite some students to participate and learn about this piece of our history,” said Green.

However, Grange, who also has ministerial responsibility for sports, gender and entertainment, explained that after intervention from her ministry, bauxite/alumina company Windalco gave approval for a 20-year lease of land at the crash site.

“It was brought to my attention that the municipal corporation’s Kendal memorial committee since 2018 has been discussing the possibility of erecting a monument at the burial site and as such was in contact with the Jamaica Railway Corporation (JRC) and bauxite/ alumina company Windalco on whose land the site is located. I am happy to report that the JRC furnished a letter of no objection to the construction of a memorial site as it would not affect or impede future train operations,” said Grange.

She said the local municipality has indicated that the monument will cost $1,194,135.

“The corporation will advance funds to erect the base of the monument on which the names of the victims would be affixed,” said Grange.

Chair of the memorial committee Angella Edwards told the Jamaica Observer that it was only a month ago that the Russian aluminium conglomerate UC Rusal (owners of Windalco) approved the 20-year lease.

“They just gave us the go-ahead in the latter part of July, so we weren’t able to move ahead with the monument for this year… Now that we have that permission we can do it for next year,” she said.

Beverly East, who lost 14 relatives in the crash and authored the book Reaper of Souls: A novel of the 1957 Kendal Crash, told the Sunday Observer she is praying that next year there will be a monument.

“It has been promised for so many years and it has fallen on deaf ears, but I think we are getting closer to it and I live in total optimism,” she said.

“When I was writing the book, I felt that I had to write all the facts about Kendal. What I learnt in the first 100 pages that I wrote is that no one would read it, because it was too tearful, so I changed with my whole idea and made my characters fictional to move the story along,” she added.

According to the accounts of survivors and people in the parish who had heard about or witnessed the event, on Sunday, September 1, 1957, hundreds of members of St Anne’s Catholic Church in Kingston had boarded a train in Kingston for an all-day excursion to Montego Bay.

On their way back to Kingston, the overcrowded train derailed at Kendal, just north of Mandeville, leaving close to 200 people dead and hundreds injured.