DehringWHEN JAMAICA produced for the Caribbean a lavish opening ceremony to mark the official start of the ICC Cricket World Cup on March 11, Chris Dehring, chairman of the company responsible for planning and executing the event, reiterated the Caribbean's commitment to delivering the best Cricket World Cup ever.
Thirteen days later, and following the murder of Pakistan's coach Bob Woolmer in a Jamaica Pegasus hotel room in Kingston, Mr. Dehring has all but amended his position.
"Let history be the judge of that," he told The Sunday Gleaner yesterday. "Our job right now is to focus on delivering an event," he added.
This is the first time in the history of the Cricket World Cup that a participant has been killed. Police have not yet established a motive for the slaying of Mr. Woolmer, who was pronounced dead at the University Hospital of The West Indies last Sunday after being found unconscious in his hotel room.
"We certainly feel it has a tremendousamount of potential to be a fantastic event," Mr. Dehring says of the World Cup, but adds "gloom now hangs" due to Mr. Woolmer's death.
"We could never ever forget what has happened, but let us at least try and take some solace in still hosting a tremendous event," Mr. Dehring told The Sunday Gleaner, while calling on Caribbean nationals to ensure the gloom does not overshadow the event.
"Even despite being totally saddened, shocked and outraged with what has taken place, the Caribbean people still have the fortitude to go on to motivate themselves and host an incredible event that the world will look a little bit more kindly on," Mr. Dehring said.
"The people of the Caribbean will find that character to make sure that the spirit of the Caribbean is displayed," he added.
Since the death of Mr. Woolmer there have been several questions about the security arrangements put in place for the tournament.
While CARICOM nations instituted a visa requirement for some countries and had security details in place around the Caribbean, there are suggestions that the Dehring team may have not fully taken into account all possibilities.
However, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Owen Ellington who is in charge of security here told The Sunday Gleaner that "everything was taken into account ... when we say security that is what we mean."
