By Charmaine Austin, Staff Reporter
Members of world netball champions Australia in a jolly mood shortly after their arrival at the Norman Manley International Airport last night. They are among 24 teams that will participate in the Cable & Wireless World Championship here from July 10-20. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
DAYS BEFORE the event kicks off, questions about Jamaica's ability to comfortably stage the Cable & Wireless World Netball Championship continue to be asked.
The Championship begins tomorrow but yesterday the organisers were criticised for their lack of insight on basic situations.
Uncertainty about the arrival of teams was only the tip of the iceberg as even more alarming were the complaints from at least four of the participating nations when they turned up for scheduled practice sessions at the Mico Teachers' College auditorium yesterday.
Team officials from two of the four teams that used the venue voiced their displeasure at the inadequacy of the training facility. They were upset by the unsanitary condition of the bathrooms, the lack of drinking water and the fact that players not using the court had nowhere to sit.
"It's a shame really that none of this, as basic as it is, was addressed. It is not our intention to upset anyone but we were expecting that at least the restrooms were in a better condition," one official said.
When contacted, Vilma McDonald at the World Netball Championship secretariat said it was Mico's responsibility to ensure that the facility was in proper condition and ready to accommodate the players as they had received sufficient notice.
As for the drinking water: "It's not our responsibility to provide water for training sessions. For games, yes, but not for training," she said.
Mico officials were adamant that they were given little or no direction as to what was required of them and said they did the best they could with what little time they had - and at the institution's expense.
Said vice principal Burchell Duhaney: "It can't be our problem. If they had come to us earlier, I'm sure we would have done a better job but we tried our best to facilitate the situation out of the school's budget. We knew the place was not in any condition to help stage an international tournament of this magnitude but we did the best we could.
"A few weeks ago they asked us to allow them to use the gym and we obliged. Ms McDonald contacted Sherwin Williams and helped us get some paint but everything else came out of our pocket. We purchased tiles and resurfaced the bathroom that we had designated for the players to use, put in new windows and installed additional lighting in the gym and on top of this we paid for the labour.
"We didn't have to do that now and would have preferred to fix the halls of residence for students but we tried to make the best of this for the country's sake."
