Repair of Philip Goldson Bust Delayed by Shortage of Material

The Philip Goldson bust, which was knocked down and severely damaged in early September, will be up by Christmas, despite a delay in sourcing one of the primary materials needed for the repair work. The monument was knocked off its base at the entrance of the namesake highway. A drunken taxi driver slammed into the bust early on the morning of September ninth, just as the J’ouvert was getting started. Today, Stephen Okeke, the man who sculpted the monument and is now repairing it, told News Five that he has had some challenges finding the material in Belize and that importing it will cost too much for the budget that was allocated for the work.

Stephen Okeke

Stephen Okeke, Sculptor

“The work is going on so far and I’ve been in contact with the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and I’ve been giving them updates on what is going in. I’m also very glad that a lot of Belizeans have become invested in it, like everywhere I go people are asking: “What’s going on? When do we get it back?” I didn’t know it had taken such (laughs) a life of its own. But so far it’s going on very well. Only one hiccup we have right now is one of the materials I need for work, none of the hardwares have it all over Belize and we have to wait for the next two or three weeks for them to import it and I don’t want to bring it in from the States. That would be too expensive. So we’re waiting on that, but so far, it’s been going at pace.”