Daraine Luton, Freelance Writer
THE SOCIAL costs and benefits of having the Greenfield Stadium built in Florence Hall, Trelawny, will be conveyed to residents of the area during a presentation put on by National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and facilitated by Jamaica Cricket 2007.
The presentation, which will take place at the William Knibb Memorial High school in the parish, is set to run from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Its staging is a critical aspect of Jamaica Cricket 2007, as such a presentation must take place before NEPA can fully consider giving approval for the building of the stadium.
Construction of the Greenfield stadium, which has to be delivered by November 2006, should have commenced one month ago. However, Chinese contractors, COMPLANT, cannot break ground until they get the go-ahead from NEPA.
Tomorrow's presentation will be based on the findings of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the area, which NEPA says it received from Jamaica Cricket 2007 on July 17, though Dr. Wayne Reid of Jamaica Cricket 2007 said it was sent in February.
In considering whether or not they approve applications for the building of Greenfield, NEPA has to consider the comments of other Government agencies, as well as external stakeholders, before a final decision is made. Last week, NEPA collected the reviews from the EIA which were later sent to consultants for their recommendation.
Hopeton Heron, NEPA's chief executive officer, explained that: "upon submission of our comments to the consultants, they are required to address the concerns raised therein. If the concerns are satisfactorily addressed, then the requisite submissions will be made to the technical review committee and board of the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA)".
Greenfield is slated to host the opening ceremony and warm-up matches for the cricket World Cup in 2007.
