Grenada Gets WC Venue Thumbs-up

Tue, May 9, '06

Amidst scepticism from its close neighbours and even its nationals, Grenada's cricket facility has been elevated in its rating by the Venue Development team which toured the Queen's Park stadium this week.

Speaking at a press conference in St George's, CWC 2007 Chief Venue Development Director, Don Lockerbie, said headlines should read "Grenada has turned the corner."

"CWC is very very pleased with what we have seen today," he stated and further added "we will be reporting to the ICC, to our Board of Directors, that Grenada is in elevated status and no longer in any kind of danger in our opinion of meeting or achieving the deadlines that they proposed."

There had been recent utterances from concerned quarters in Trinidad that Grenada's cricket facility would not be ready, given the setback due to the devastation of Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. It had also been claimed that the Government was being frivolous in its fiscal policy, choosing to develop the stadium and infrastructure for Cricket World Cup, instead of putting roofs over the heads of its citizens.

On both occasions, Grenada's Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Keith Mitchell countered with a promise that Grenada would be ready, and clarified that the financial commitment of his government was minimal. The majority of funding for the reconstruction of Queen's Park Stadium is being undertaken by the People's Republic of China.

It is perhaps to the Chinese construction team that Grenada owes this elevated rating. Known for their strong work ethic and discipline, the numerous Chinese workers attached to the project have worked night and day to play 'catch up'. The last site visit by the Venue Development team on 1 March assessed that Grenada was approximately three weeks behind schedule.

"When you go to a construction site and you see everybody working and no one sitting around, and nobody standing around and it is constant movement, you can see why this site is well organized and why it is working. This is a very exciting day for us," Lockerbie said.

The Chief Venue Development Director said that they had been told by the Chinese technical team that most of the work that had been done over the last few months was unseen; that much of the property was getting the footings, the pilings, the foundations that needed to be done in order to stabilize the ground, but once done, that would allow for quick and quality construction. "Those experts have been proven correct," he added.

The contractors have given assurance that the concrete work on the South end of the ground will be completed by the end of May, which is on schedule. The Northern end which will house the media and players will have its concrete poured by the end of June in all four or five floors. That is ahead of schedule. The pitch and field is approximately one week behind.

"We can certainly live with that," said Lockerbie citing the advantage of having the Trinidadian firm Terra Firma constructing the pitch and field. This company did the highly rated Beausejour ground in St Lucia, and are presently working on pitches and fields in Trinidad, St Vincent and Guyana.

"It's always easy to cast stones and doubts, and I want to be the first one today to congratulate Roy O'Neale [Grenada LOC Managing Director], his team, the government and of course Prime Minister Mitchell on his leadership. They have done what they said they would do and we are very very pleased and proud," Lockerbie stated.

The Grenadian Prime Minister officially took responsibility for this country's World Cup preparations, joining his Barbadian counterpart Owen Arthur who assumed the lead role for Barbados in late 2005.

The team is due to move on to Barbados on Tuesday for the final inspection and Lockerbie said that the region has met expectations at all of the grounds. "We do not feel that we are in danger of not having our stadiums completed at this time in any way, and the good news is that Grenada has only bolstered that claim today," he stated.

While the news is good on the status of the Queen's Park Stadium, the reality is that there are other deliverables that will be of concern. "Everything else concerns us in every country we are dealing with," said Lockerbie. Chief among these in Grenada is the question of accommodation and transportation.

With barely 1,900 rooms before Hurricane Ivan and some of those not yet brought back into commission, the tourism authorities are faced with a challenging situation. They have launched a Homestay Bed & Breakfast programme and today, Cabinet approved a 75% concession on new home construction under nine rooms.

"We are confident we will get the 1,000 rooms needed for this programme," said Tourism Minister Hon. Brenda Hood, speaking on GBN television this evening. She also mentioned possible collaboration with Barbados to rent a ship which will accommodate between 3,000 and 4,000 cricket fans.

It is an uphill challenge, but with a stadium promised for completion by the end of November ? five months before Grenada hosts its first Super Eight encounter on 10 April next year ? Lockerbie is hoping that the excitement will propel the Grenadian people to do what is necessary to ensure the best Cricket World Cup ever.