KINGSTON’S HISTORIC HALF-WAY-TREE CLOCK TOWER DAMAGED BY FIRE!

 THE historic Half-Way-Tree clock tower was yesterday damaged in an early morning fire.

It was not clear up to last night what was the cause of the fire.

Public relations officer at the Jamaica Fire Brigade, Emilio Ebanks, said that he was unable to say what caused the fire. “When fire personnel arrived at the scene, the base of the clock was packed with garbage,” Ebanks said.

This iconic landmark has since 1913 been the main arrival and departure point for Kingston, from the days of the ‘horse and buggy’ before motor vehicles, and the demarcation line for downtown and uptown Kingston.

The Mayor of Kingston Angela Brown Burke

Mayor of Kingston Angela Brown Burke, in a release shortly after the incident, said it would do its part to preserve the historic landmark and appealed to citizens to allow the authorities to complete their work unimpeded.

Meanwhile, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange has instructed the Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) to see that no further damage is done to the clock tower.

Minister Grange said she was “grateful that no one was hurt in the fire”, but expressed “concern over damage to iconic clock”.

Grange’s ministry said that the initial report from the JNHT team, which assessed the damage, said there appeared to be no major damage to the tower; however, the clock itself was exposed to the fire. Other assessments are to be done.

Olivia “Babsy” Grange

Minister Grange, meanwhile, said the JNHT must now do whatever is necessary to protect the tower from any exposure that may do additional damage.

In 2003, the Victorian-style clock was retrofitted with a Global Positioning System traceable digital clock and an electronic chiming system at a cost of $2 million.