Dear Sir,

Please allow me the opportunity to use your newspaper to respond to the letter to the editor published on July 11, 2015.

It is most unfortunate, that Mr Tim Smith chose your medium as the forum to disclose the miscommunication between two entities instead of reaching out to either party directly. This approach has left us with no option but to publicly respond.

The purpose of this response is to provide the facts as it related to the incident. Mr Smith indicated in his letter that he has been leading Cub Scout camps for the past 23 years and the Portuguese Festival has been an annual event in St George’s for as many years. These two organisations have coexisted without incident for years. This year, the truck that arrived to collect the supplies from Ordnance Island was a large dumpster truck that was much larger than the dump truck used in previous years.

Needless to say, the larger truck was unable to manoeuvre around the decorations and displays already erected by the volunteers of the Portuguese Association. The Portuguese Association volunteers were very accommodating and elected to remove the decorations to prevent further escalation of the situation.

This incident highlights the total disrespect and disregard for the policies and regulations of the Corporation of St George.

The corporation has the authority to declare any area within the municipality closed by publishing a notice in the Gazette. The appropriate notice for the closure of King’s Square and Ordnance Island was published in advance of the event.

On this occasion, the entrance to King’s Square was barricaded off to prevent entry to allow the safe set-up for the Portuguese Association event.

The incident occurred due to the total disregard for signage and barricades. Although King’s Square was closed, there were several other options available for disembarking other than Ordnance Island. Market Wharf is 20 feet away and is accessible without the need to enter King’s Square. This disembarking location could have been used and prevented the incident.

Our workers work tirelessly and are passionate about their job, and it is unfortunate when people disregard their efforts. The staff of the corporation should be commended as they continue to dedicate themselves to ensure the town is well maintained and always immaculate for all our residents and visitors.

The corporation extends its sincerest apologies to the Portuguese Association for this unfortunate incident and we look forward to the continuation of this annual event in the community calendar.

Both, the corporation and the representative from the Portuguese Association are available to meet with Mr Smith should he desire to do so.

Regards,

CANDY-LEE FOGGO

Town manager/secretary