THE EDITOR, Sir:
I ATTENDED the final day of the VMBS Boys' and Girls' Championship at the National Stadium and must question the commitment of the organisers to the safety and security of those attending this meet.
My intuition had directed me to return home when I discovered that the 'official' parking facility was already full. However, with my young 'Fortis' urging me on, I ignored my intuition. We entered the stadium from gate number one and I was shocked beyond explanation when I saw the number of persons standing in the aisles and those congregated at the exits. I am no expert at estimating crowd size, but I kept expressing my uneasiness to my son. From what I saw, there were too many persons in the venue. I again tried to return home, but yielded to my son, who thought that I would have been throwing away the $1,200 paid for the three persons in our party.
This is a school event and,normally, there is the support from family members, which sometimes includes smaller siblings. Do the facilitators of these meets take this into consideration? From what I saw, it's a clear no. What time, or who decides when no more tickets should be sold? Am I nonsensical or naive to have thought that tickets are sold based on the number of seats in the venue, so I was guaranteed a seat with the purchase of my ticket?
Had it not been for my son's insistence of wanting to go to the 'Fortis' Camp, we would have probably been caught in the centre of the fracas. And, I must say that it took us approximately an hour from moving though the crowd in the passage way from gate one, where we entered, to gate eight, because of the number of persons who had no seats and had to use the passageway as their base. During the journey, persons travelling with smaller children had to transport them on their shoulders to prevent suffocation or trampling.
FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION
When events of this nature are being staged, the fundamental question of 'What if?' should be foremost in the minds of the organisers. What if there is a fire we saw illegal fireworks that could have started a fire. What if there is an emergency? Had it not been for the quick response of the licensed firearm holder, things might have escalated further and could have given rise to greater injuries and also the loss of lives.
We might have got away with it in the past, but it should not be allowed to continue. Perhaps the organisers need to look at using the facilities at GC Foster College which is an open facility so fewer injuries would be sustained if there is need to exit the venue under emergency conditions. Or simply, sell not one ticket more than the seating capacity.
This is a very serious situation and it must be dealt with now.
I am, etc.,
PAT BIGNALL
wig@cwjamaica.com
