WELL-KNOWN sports administrator and businessman Richard Fakoory is considering packing up and leaving his Superstar Rangers Football Club if Prime Minister Patrick Manning continues with his plan to build his residence on President’s Ground, St Ann’s.
But Fakoory insisted yesterday that residents were willing to engage in peaceful and organised protest if PM Manning did not meet with them to sort out the matter amicably.
Fakoory said the interested parties only wanted to come to some sort of compromise with the Prime Minister.
He pointed out that the plan for acquiring the playing field for the grounds of the new multi-million dollar Prime Minister’s Residence was very unpopular with the people and organisations who use the President’s Ground.
Parliamentary representative for the district is Minister of Health John Rahael who has so far not made any public statement on the contentious issue.
Fakoory who has also sponsored a national basketball competition said the idea to destroy a recognised playing field betrays a concern for youth development by the authorities and is sending a wrong message to the public at large.
He said that it was ironic that Government has embarked on sport development programme involving the upgrade and construction of sporting facilities to help combat the escalating crime rate in the country but is hellbent on shutting down a historic venue serving thousands.
The Superstar Rangers family through Fakoory has persevered throughout the past years with their youth development programme and was recognised for their efforts in 1992 by the then Member of Parliament Desmond Allum in 1992 who was a member of the People’s National Move-ment Government.
Allum, a prominent attorney-at-law is the president and legal advisor of the Superstar Rangers Club.
The club has been in existence for the past 26 years and together with a number of different sports organisations has used the popular President’s Ground as their base of operations.
Rugby also has a long, historic attachment to the ground with Northerns Rugby Club based there for the past 50 years.
Among the other organisations calling President’s Ground home are La Familia Football Club and the Grassroots Association who together with the others have received little or no assistance in maintaining the facility.
Fakoory recounted the days where important football matches of the Northern Football Association (NFA) as well as national rugby play-off matches took place at the historic St Ann’s football field now a landmark in the area
"There were times when persons from the different sports organisations would come out with lawnmowers and other trimming equipment to have the field cut, prepared and ready for matches, either football or rugby that said day," Fakoory said.
The Superstar Rangers boss said the organisations have also paid private contractors to have the ground prepared for activities.
"I remember when we approached the Ministry of Agriculture to have the grounds maintained on a regular basis but only received excuses of no gas in their vehicles and lack of equipment," said Fakoory.
The ground is also used by residents for their daily exercise and by other clubs for windball cricket, basketball and netball on the paved area that is also used as a car park.
Fakoory is especially disappointed with the latest develoment as President’s Ground has been the breeding ground for a number of top footballers such as former national captain Clayton Morris during the Strike Squad era, his team-mate Hutson Charles and Errol Mc Farlane, now coach of Fatima College.
He rejects the Queen’s Park Savannah as a substitute for President’s Ground on two points.
First he said there is no secure storage facility for his club’s equipment and the authorities cannot guarantee the safety and protection of his players having to cross the dangerous road around the Savannah regularly.
"In the savannah there is nowhere to get a drink of water (running taps) during and after matches and no changing facilities available unless vehicles are converted into such," Fakoory said.