Bar to be Opened Next to Schools in Kingstown..”No Alchohol Before 6PM”

Earl ‘The Groove Governor’ Abraham, who has received the Planning Unit’s permission to operate a business place in an area within close proximity to a number of schools, is assuring the public that he would be implementing activities there to ensure a healthy and clean environment.

The popular radio announcer and businessman, also known as ‘Groove’,  was responding to concerns by some members of the public , that a bar is to be located in the narrow area between the National Lotteries Tennis facility at Richmond Hill and the river which runs just below the Girls’ High School (GHS) hard court.

In an interview with THE VINCENTIAN on Tuesday, Abraham confirmed that he had received permission to operate a business in that area, but he made it clear that during the day, he would be selling only food and snacks from a trailer.

‘Alcohol would not even be displayed,” he emphasized.

The ‘Star FM’ announcer who hails from Frenches, added that he was also working along with a company to establish an Internet Café in the same area, to be opened from 3-5 pm, with special rates for school children.

Concerns raised

In a letter caption ‘Three Schools and alcohol bar – not a good mix’, carried in another publication last Friday, GHS Principal, Andrea Bowman, expressed concerns that a bar was to be located in close proximity to three secondary schools and two primary schools.

She wrote:  “It seems as though Planning permission to have this bar so located was sought and received and this is what frustrates and concerns me.”  She also wrote:  “I am calling on the powers that be to think of the negative ramifications of having this bar so located.”

Bowman’s concerns were highlighted and discussed last Saturday evening on the Interactive Radio programme, ‘Meet the media’, aired on Cross Country Radio.

Abraham’s plans

Abraham admits there would also be a bar, but he explained that the bar would begin operations from 6 p.m. and that it will operate in full compliance with the law.

He disclosed that the motto for the area would be, ‘Keep Mohogany Square Clean’. He explained that the word clean was used not only in a physical sense but in relation to what type of activities take place there. His decision to name the area ‘Mahogany Square’ was taken because of the mahogany trees which have been there for several years.

Abraham also indicated that garbage bins, labeled ‘Keep it clean’, would be placed in the area.

Noting that Bowman said in her letter that the area was dubbed ‘Lovers lane’ by school children who congregate there to access public and private transportation among other things, Abraham said that within the past three weeks he, in conjunction with the Sanitation Department, had removed three truck-loads of garbage, including human filth, from the adjacent river.

“When we came here, this place was in filth.  We are going to give the area a healthy environment, we are beautifying it and we have already started to line the banks with palms,” the businessman said.

He recalled that recently some school boys were seen gambling, smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol in the area, and he was adamant that if the business was already in operation, that could not have happened.

“I am a man of many children, and a responsible father,” Abraham declared, noting that he has four children attending various secondary schools and three others in university.

He added that he himself was a student of Miss Ford and the Kingstown Preparatory Schools as well as the St. Vincent Grammar School.

Abraham said he had been hearing all sorts of remarks, but no one has ever approached him (before) to find out what were his plans for the area.

Story Courtesy : The Vincentian Newspaper