Assistant coach of Australiaís cricket team, Dene Hills (right), and Cricket Operations Manager of the Antigua & Barbuda Local Organising Committee (LOC), Martin Cave, address a media briefing in Antigua.- Contributed

More than 500 rooms under the bed and breakfast programme will be available in the next seven weeks for the local leg of the ICC Cricket World Cup.

In a release on Friday the Ministry of Tourism, Entertain-ment and Culture, said the bed and breakfast programme has been steadily gaining momentum in eastern Jamaica and beyond with the start of the Cricket World Cup under 50 days away.

According to the release as at January 12 595 eligible rooms have been identified, and a full programme of training is now in progress to sensitise the home owners about various aspects of the hospitality business.

The release said 195 rooms have been declared market-ready, and suitable to receive visitors. These have been posted on the website of the designated agents, Unique Jamaica (www.uniquejamaica. com) with a direct link to the Cricket World Cup site.

inspecting homes

The Tourism Product Develop-ment Company (TPDCo) has begun the process of inspecting homes in St. Catherine (Linstead, Ewarton, Sydenham Villas, Old Harbour, Eltham View, St. Jago Heights, Green Acres, Lakemore Gardens) and Lawrence Tavern in St. Andrew.

The plan is to complete the inspection of another 175 rooms by the end of this month. In a bid to safeguard the welfare of the prospective guests, security clearance by the police is required before final acceptance into the programme. At this time final security reports are still pending for 127 of the 595 eligible rooms.

Minister of Tourism, Entertain-ment and Culture, Aloun Ndombet Assamba will formally congratu-late the successfully trained bed and breakfast operations at a ceremony scheduled for the Hilton Kingston hotel on Tuesday, February 20.

Contributed

Assistant coach of Australia's cricket team, Dene Hills (right), and Cricket Operations Manager of the Antigua & Barbuda Local Organising Committee (LOC), Martin Cave, address a media briefing in Antigua. Hills has praised the regional facilities which will be used for the ICC World Cup.