Adrian Frater, News Editor
WESTERN BUREAU:
LOCAL ORGANISING Committee (LOC) officials for the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup said the sewage system at the new Trelawny multi-purpose stadium was ready, pending a final inspection by the National Environmental and Planning Agency (NEPA), which has to sign off on the project.
"The plant is now finished - all that is left is for a final inspection by NEPA," said Pauline Nelson, head of communications at the LOC. "Once that is done, the plant should be ready for use."
Inspection visits
However, when NEPA was contacted, information officer Zadie Neufville said previous inspections had been done by her organisation as well as the Ministry of Health and the Underground Water Authority.
However, she could not say whether or not the next inspection would be the last.
"I don't know how anyone can assume that it is going to be a final inspection because if we go there and we are not satisfied, we can't sign-off on the project," said Neufville. "There are many variables to be considered but we can't make a determination until the inspection is done."
Neufville also noted that an inspection team from NEPA had visited the Trelawny stadium last week. However, she had not yet fully apprised herself of its report, hence her inability to say whether or not there was a need for further visits.
Testing the facility
The new stadium, which is earmarked to host the Sunday, March 11, World Cup opening ceremony, was slated to host at least one four-day game in the 2007 Carib Beer regional cricket competition. However, the plan was shelved so as to not cause interference to the ongoing work on the sewage system.
"We had requested the use of the new stadium for a few Carib Beer games but the request was denied out of concern that playing a game there could interfere with the sewage work," said a Jamaica Cricket Board source. "We fully understood and appreciated the situation so we went about securing other venues."
Following the handing over of the stadium to the LOC late last year, LOC official Oniel Cruickshank told The Gleaner that the facility would be tested with a series of warm-up matches prior to the start of the World Cup.
Since then, two high-profile matches - Jamaica versus the United States and Jamaica versus a Lashing International XI - have been played there.
