Tourism secretary: Fort King George lighthouse to shine again

THE TOBAGO House of Assembly is expected to begin work on the lighthouse infrastructure at Fort King George, Scarborough, in May.

Making the announcement on April 17 at the post-executive council media briefing at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex, Secretary of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation Tashia Burris said the “major renovation” will also involve sourcing a light for the historic landmark.

“For those who are sentimental and grew up in Scarborough…I grew up seeing the light at the fort spanning its way across the sea in Scarborough. And that light has been non-functional for a number of years,” she said.

“So part of our mandate under the Division of Tourism is culture and antiquities, and antiquities involve the preservation of actual physical evidence of artefacts of our heritage.”

Burris said the lighthouse is one of only two that exist today in the country.

“And we are about to undertake a major renovation of the actual lighthouse infrastructure with the hope of replacing that very iconic light.

"It is going to be hard to find. It is probably going to be very expensive to source. But we are trying to see if it could be renovated to as close to original state as possible.

“That work is scheduled to start in May and we are hoping to deliver this very iconic piece of our Tobago history by September of this year.”