A planned monument to Jamaican Olympian Usain Bolt in South Florida has divided opinions among city officials in Miramar.

The main bone of contention is the US$250,000 price tag for the statue that is to be mounted at the Ansin Sports Complex, the training ground of another Jamaican Olympian, Briana Williams.

Miramar is home to a large diverse Jamaican population and Commissioner Alexandra Davis, who is behind the proposed monument believes the monument will help attract visitors to the community.

“We wanted to make sure we had a world-class Olympian as part of the art in public places,” said Davis, who was born in the United Kingdom but raised in Jamaica where she attended Wolmer’s Girls, MICO Teachers’ College and the University of the West Indies, Mona campus.

However, Miramar Commissioner Winston Barnes, who is Jamaican, described the spend as ridiculous, saying it is a waste of taxpayers’ money.

“Attaching ourselves to monuments or icons is not going to make us a 24/7 city,” Barnes said. “We’re not a tourist city — come on. I do not think we have the luxury to try to create monuments of icons simply at the fancy of elected officials.”

The city is to pay Jamaican sculptor Basil Watson US$250,000 in four instalments. but there is no word yet as to what the actual monument will look like.

Opinions have also been divided among residents, some of whom believe such a monument would show that minorities can achieve great things while others believe the money could be better spent celebrating a more diverse set of achievers.