Tony Becca - ON THE BOUNDARY PRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson has promised that the government of Jamaica and the opposition are determined to make the Jamaica leg of World Cup 2007 a memorable success, and as the chairman of CARICOM, he has also promised that the governments of the region will do everything in their power to make the event the best ever.
Speaking on Sunday at the ceremony to mark the laying of the cornerstone for the headquarters of the ICC Cricket World West Indies 2007 at St. Lucia Avenue, and again on Monday at King's House during the signing of the host agreement between the ICC and the West Indies Board, Prime Minister Patterson said that the World Cup is a major commercial venture.
He said there were significant spin-offs in terms of commercial activities, that the business community, large and small entrepreneurs, must begin from now to prepare to satisfy the expected demand for goods and services, and that it will provide a welcome fillip to continue the strong growth the country is already witnessing in the tourism sector.
There is no question about that. Apart from the projected US$100 million that West Indies cricket stands to gain from the event, the World Cup, the third largest sporting event in the world - the largest sporting event ever to be staged in the West Indies - offers tremendous financial opportunities to the region and it is therefore in the best interest of everyone - government, private sector, including tourism, and the people - to make it the best ever.
QUALITY OF PLAY
As a cricket tournament, facilities, quality of play and exciting action will go a far way in determining if the next World Cup will be the best ever. Of equal importance, however, probably of even greater importance, will be how much the fans enjoy themselves away from the matches, and it will be everyone's responsibility to ensure that they have a good time in what we proudly, sometimes boastfully, refer to as paradise.
The fans will spend their money watching what should be great cricket in an exciting tournament and on necessities. What is important, however, is that the goods and services, the cultural presentations and the hospitality will be of such high standards that they will spend more money, and that when the World Cup is over, the tens of thousands of visitors will have enjoyed themselves so much that not only will they want to return but that they will also invite others to come and enjoy what they have enjoyed.
That will not be easy, it will take a lot of planning and hard work, and fortunately the governments intend to set the pace.
Resources to provide top-class facilities, smooth movement of visitors and proper security are, among other things, important to the success of the tournament, and the heads of governments have called representatives of the West Indies Board and the chairman and managing director of the organising committee to a meeting to discuss matters relating to the tournament so that they can make some important decisions.
MONEY TO PROVIDE FACILITIES
As far as the money to provide the facilities is concerned, the governments have already pledged that.
Comfort is key to enjoyment, however, and one of the other things the governments have to do is this: they have to find a way to ensure smooth movement around the West Indies of the tens of thousands of visitors attending the matches.
Unlike funding where each one will be looking after its own country, the governments will have to come together on that, they will have to work together, and that will be the main topic of the discussions scheduled for next week.
Based on discussions at a previous meeting of the heads of government, however, they seem to be well on the way to solving that problem.
The suggestion is that visitors should only be required to go through customs and immigration at their point of entry into the West Indies. That, however, would mean each territory passing a special legislation for the period of the World Cup, and looking back on the region's history, that could be a problem.
Based on what Prime Minister Patterson has said, however, that should be no problem.
According to the chairman of CARICOM, all the governments, all the opposition parties are working together to make the 2007 World Cup the best ever, and remembering the reward for all if it is indeed the best ever, every Jamaican, every West Indian, businessman or not, should follow their example and join hands in an effort to really make it the best ever.
