AFTER decades of internecine clashes involving gangsters in the St Andrew South Eastern community of Nannyville Gardens, there is hope that a new day could dawn fuelled by a fustal court opened in the area recently.

For years gangsters from the section of Nannyville closer to the National Stadium known as ‘Top Nannyville’ or ‘Texas’, and the section closer to Excelsior known as ‘Bottom Nannyville’ or ‘Angloa’, have been at odds in a deadly dispute, despite both areas being strongholds of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP).

In recent months rifts in the Bottom Nannyville gang have led to several shootings in that section of the community.

But Member of Parliament for the constituency Julian Robinson is confident that the new futsal court will be a catalyst for major community transformation and serve as a unifying space for residents.

“It has already helped the community in bringing people together from top and bottom, but it has the scope to be much broader than that and to not just be a football field, but a place for entertainment beyond football and that’s really the vision of where I want this space to go, said Robinson during the official launch last Wednesday.

“I felt it would not just be an opportunity for the community but it would be a way of bringing communities along Mountain View [Avenue] and the eastern belt [of the Corporate Area] together and so, what you see here now — and it’s been operational for a little while — represents the beginning of what I would call uniting people of different persuasions,” added Robinson.

He pointed out that the idea for the futsal court had been in development for sometime.

“Sometimes people see it, and when everybody sees it, everybody says they want it, but they don’t understand how we got here and it took probably four years to get here,” he said, noting that the area was a natural grass surface when the community was first established.

According to Robinson, maintaining a grass field was unsustainable due to high water costs, which led to the decision to pursue a synthetic turf solution.

“The field existed for a long time, but eventually it became a dust bowl and you can’t sustain it using NWC [National Water Commission] water because it’s just prohibitively expensive to continue to water the field. So we recognised that we needed a solution beyond the grass field that was here.

“So probably from about 2020, I said I wanted to put a turf field here and so what you see here, as simple as it looks, is pretty expensive to do because in addition to the surface, you have to prepare the surface,” said Robinson.

He explained that funding came from several partners, including Sports Development Foundation (SDF), which contributed $5 million towards acquiring the turf; Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), which provided approximately $15 million for installation and surface preparation; and Carib Cement, which donated a walking track surrounding the field.

Robinson added that the space is not only for sports but is intended to host entertainment events and promote broader community engagement.

“People come out here early in the morning and actually walk on it, and so it has helped in terms of providing a platform for people to do exercise,” Robinson said.

In the meantime, Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett, who was the guest speaker at the official opening, linked the initiative to Jamaica’s broader tourism development strategy.

He noted that the project is part of a broader push to make tourism beneficial for all Jamaicans, which is one of the key initiatives of the ministry’s Spruce Up Pon Di Corner Programme.

“It is one of those simple things that we do in tourism that has really had an impact in communities. What it has done is to create an opportunity for ordinary folks who don’t know anything about tourism or who feel that tourism is for some big man [but] tourism is for everyone, and the benefits from tourism can, in fact, be felt by everyone at every level in our community,” said Bartlett.

He noted that the field is not just for young people to use for sporting activities but highlighted that everyone in the community can benefit from the field.

“So, the young people of Nannyville, this is yours, and don’t worry elderly folks, this is also for you because it is not just for physical dexterity and for athleticism and sports; it is also for simple relaxation, that you as adults can come and walk all around this area and you can also sit quietly and watch the young people as they play and have recollections of your own time when you used to play and wonder why you were playing on rougher surfaces and didn’t have the benefit of this astro turf,” added Bartlett.

He urged residents to take care of the facility as he pointed out that proper management is the key to preserving the futsal court for a long time.

“I close by saying that these things that we do for community enrichment is not to be taken lightly, but it’s to be used efficiently, effectively, and managed well… I don’t want to come back to Nannyville and look at it and see something that makes me want to cry. I want to come back to Nannyville and see something that makes me want to smile and be happy, and even, at my age, kick a ball,” said Bartlett.