Ian Fleming airport sign vandalised as locals show anger at naming

18-Jan-2011 • Bond News

Mayor of Port Maria Richard Creary yesterday condemned the defacement of the sign at the recently opened Ian Fleming International Airport in Boscobel, St Mary - reports the Daily Gleaner.

Airport workers turned up at the location yesterday morning to see what appeared to be black oil paint splattered across both sides of the sign erected last Tuesday, a day before the airport was officially opened by Prime Minister Bruce Golding.

The sign was later taken down and was expected to be back up after being cleaned.

Creary, who said he only learned of the incident when The Gleaner contacted him, condemned the vandalism.

"I am not in support of such action," Creary said. "I know persons are upset with the way the name (Ian Fleming) was chosen, but defacing the sign is not the answer. There are better ways of getting the message across."

Creary said the defacement was an act of disrespect, not just to the Fleming family, but to the people of the community and parish.

"Two wrongs don't make a right, hence I do not support such action. Persons in St Mary have a better way of expressing themselves," Creary said.

He said while Fleming might not have played a direct role in the development of the area, his work had brought much attention to the parish and should be appreciated.

Creary stunned the audience at the official opening on Wednesday when he said some stakeholders in St Mary felt slighted, and were disappointed, at not being party to the naming of the facility in honour of Fleming, the British author and creator of the James Bond character. Fleming had spent years in nearby Oracabessa penning the novels that later became blockbuster films.