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Zoo upgrade to start next week
Rohandra John
Upgrade works at the Emperor Valley Zoo in Port of Spain, which is more than 50 years old, are carded to begin later this month, Gupte Lutchmedial, president of the Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago, said on Monday.Lutchmedial said the refurbishment works at the zoo would be done in phases and the “first thing we want to deal with are the archaic cages”.
He said the upgrade should begin on February 14 and once everything goes according to plan it should be completed in 30 months.
Lutchmedial was at the time responding to questions from the media at the end of a ceremony in which the Zoological Society of Trinidad and Tobago, the Manatee Conservation Trust and the International Fund for Animal Welfare Inc signed a memorandum of agreement, at the Cascadia hotel in St Ann’s.
The agreement will see them working together to carry out a common mandate of conserving and protecting endangered species as well as marine life and other wildlife animals in this country.
Former tourism minister Howard Chin Lee had announced last year that the Government would spend some $56.8 million on a master plan to upgrade the zoo, but in the wake of his announcement some critics publicly objected to the initiative, arguing that the money could be put to better use.
Lutchmedial, however, acknowledged Monday that the current economic crisis could “affect funding for the project”.
He said this was all the more reason why they were giving priority to some areas as opposed to trying to tackle everything at once. He noted that the zoo would not be shut down during the upgrade.
“The work will be done in phases and what we are going to do is just relocate the animals out of the area that is being worked on, but people will still be allowed to come to the zoo.”
He said the Tourism Development Company (TDC), which is managing the project, had already signed off on the contract with Noel Lewis and Broadbridge Associates (NLCBA), which will carry out the refurbishment works on the zoo.
On Monday, Tourism Minister Joseph Ross lauded the Zoological Society and Manatee Conservation Trust for partnering with the IFAW in its efforts to conserve this country’s endangered species, and marine life.
He noted that the preservation and conservation of these species and their habitats “are the backbone of the eco tourism branding of Trinidad and Tobago”.
Ross also noted that only French Guiana and Suriname host more leatherback turtles than Trinidad. He said all citizens and local animal welfare organisations should work to keep it that way.
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