Robert Bryan, executive director of Jamaica's Local Organising Committee for CWC 2007. - file
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):
Both the Sabina Park and Trelawny stadium venues in Jamaica are on course for a timely finish as the country prepares to fulfill its obligation of hosting matches in next year's Cricket World Cup.
Robert Bryan, chief executive of the Jamaica's Local Organising Committee, said the cement shortage several weeks ago did impact on the preparations, but noted he was confident of delivering the venues ahead of the ICC's deadline next February.
"Right now we are making great progress in terms of both venues. We expect Trelawny will be ready ahead of schedule as previously indicated, and the completion of Sabina Park will be hopefully by the end of November, but definitely no later than the second week of December," Bryan said.
25,000-seater project
The Trelawny Stadium, being constructed in the north-western parish of Trelawny, will be a 25,000-seater project and will host the opening ceremony on March 11 as well as pre-tournament matches from March 5-9.
Sabina Park, situated in the east of the country's capital Kingston, will have 21,000 seats and will stage first round matches from March 13-23, as well as one semi-final on April 24.
Bryan was speaking in Barbados during a meeting of the nine chief executive officers of the local organising committees. He said some slight changes were on stream for the Trelawney facility.
"We have made some proposals for reducing the scope of the Trelawney stadium. We are looking at making the change to the temporary facility not the permanent facility," Bryan said.
"We are doing this with a view to reducing some of the costing. We are in the process of entering discussions over different proposals aimed at getting the figures down."
The cost of redevelopment of Sabina Park has been put at US$29 million while the Greenfield Stadium has been built to the tune of US$30 million.
"We are not looking to cut back on the numbers per se. We are looking at doing some value engineering," Bryan said.
