Paul Campbell (left), first vice-president of the Jamaica Cricket Association, leads members of a trade mission from the United Kingdom on a tour of Sabina Park in Kingston yesterday. Representatives of the United Kingdom Trade & Investment (UKTI) and the British Consultants & Construction Bureau (BCCB) are visiting Jamaica between September 6 and 9 to focus on potential opportunities being generated by the Cricket World Cup 2007. -Junior Dowie photo
Susan Smith, Staff Reporter
PLANS FOR Cricket World Cup 2007 are already attracting investors to Jamaica. Yesterday, a delegation from 16 United Kingdom-based companies toured Sabina Park to scout for business opportunities to take back to potential investors in the U.K.
Sabina Park, which was awarded the 'Yellow Package' by World Cup organisers, will host a semi-final and several preliminary round matches.
"My prime concern is to help British companies find
business opportunities in the tourism sector," explained John Vimpany of the
United Kingdom Trade and Investment Company. "It could improve the hotel booking system or producing new IT systems for the hotel industry," he said.
Nigel Peters, director for
the British Consultant and Construction Bureau (BCCB), told The Gleaner that most of the companies represented here are looking to respond to
tenders put out by Jamaican organisations on websites or via other media and are not necessarily planning to make capital injections into the preparations.
THEY DETERMINE THE BUDGET
"We want to supply services and goods but it depends on the budget of the Jamaican cricketing authorities, they determine the budget." he said. "We'll be looking at security, seating, all the business opportunities associated with the Cricket World Cup. We see that the new Greenfield stadium in Trelawny will need everything from architects through to people supplying seats and helping with the preparation of the pitch," Peters continued.
The tour was organised by the BCCB and supported by the United Kingdom Export Department and the United Kingdom Trade and Invest-ment (UKTI). Among those in attendance were Paul Hardy, representative of UKTI in Kingston; Jackie Hendricks, president of the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA); Paul Campbell, first vice-president of the JCA; Dr. Wayne Reid, chairman of the organising committee for Cricket World Cup 2007, and Michael Hall, general manager, Cricket World Cup 2007.
The contingent was given details on the developments to be made at Sabina Park.
Among the improvements planned for Sabina Park are:
Seating capacity of 20,000 to be created.
Purchase property behind Air Jamaica stand, making the road accessible to vehicular traffic.
Underground drainage to be improved.
Addition of fifth pitch to
create more opportunities to spread out the game.
Expanding the grounds by the eastern side and the western side.
Lease Emmett Park for six to nine months before, during and after the event in order to erect a hospitality village for the event.
Updating the press facilities to a more modern press type.
Creating and defining a
traffic-free zone which will see South Camp Road blocked off to all vehicular traffic. The boundaries will be North Street and South Camp Road.
Installing screening machines on South Camp Road to ensure proper screening before entering the grounds and making arrangements with schools in the vicinity to get a holiday every time there is a match.