THE EDITOR, Sir:I HAVE just read the 'Letter of the Day' in the March 23 edition of The Gleaner which concerns the safety of persons at events at the National Stadium and I concur in large part with the views of the writer.
I, too, was at the Stadium on Saturday evening last, and I believe the organisers of the event still have some explaining to do.
In particular, they need to tell us why their security arrangements failed to keep contraband out of the National Stadium, failed to keep scores - maybe hundreds - of spectators from entering the venue illegally by brazenly scaling the walls in full view of everyone present and failed to position more uniformed personnel in the stands, where they could have dealt more effectively with overcrowded aisles and with mischief makers.
SEEN ITS DAYS
However, your correspondent's letter raises another important point. The crowd was too large for the venue. This has been something that we have observed at Champs for some time. When the National Stadium was built some 40-odd years ago, the population of the Kingston area was - at most - one-third of what it is now. In addition, many of the current security considerations did not figure in its design or construction. I believe it is time for us to seriously consider replacement of the National Stadium with a larger and more appropriate structure.
The present facility may well have seen its days.
If Jamaica had qualified for the next round of the present FIFA World Cup eliminations, it is difficult to see how the Stadium would have been able to accommodate the crowds that would have wanted to see the home matches.
I would strongly recommend that the owners and operators of the Stadium knock heads with interests in the private sector to see how a new stadium can be financed and quickly constructed before the eliminations for the 2010 World Cup.
In the interim, organisers of events such as Champs must be prepared to spend more on proper security - not just talk about it - and to raise their entry fees in order to cover the additional costs and to reduce the crowd levels.
We have been lucky so far to have avoided the type of incident which could have led to serious injury or loss of life and damage to our reputation as organisers of sporting events.
I am, etc.,
ANTON THOMPSON
Kingston
