Repair of Stadium tracks delayed

BY KAYON RAYNOR Senior staff reporter raynork@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, April 25, 2010

THE non-arrival of material from Singapore has resulted in scheduled resurfacing work on the nation's two main synthetic tracks at the Independence Park Complex being delayed until at least this summer.

The upgrading work was scheduled to begin in February after the Jamaican Government secured US$1 million (J$89 million) from its Singapore counterparts and the private sector in December.

However, checks with Independence Park Limited (IPL) general manager Major Desmon Brown last Thursday revealed that the repairs could be delayed until July.

"I think the next window of opportunity that we have, that we are working on now, is to get both tracks repaired after the National Trials. We can't do anything else now," Brown said during a two-hour inspection of the National Stadium by officials of the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation, the Jamaica Fire Brigade, ODPEM and the Public Health Authority two days ago.

The National Senior trials are scheduled for June 25 to 27.

Major Brown admitted to being unaware of the date material will arrive on the island, after missing the scheduled dates at the end of February.

"I don't have any dates; that's my concern," he said.

"We are a few weeks well behind... it is being handled by the minister's office, (so) I really can't tell you where it is, but I'm a little concerned," Major Brown added.

According to the proposed schedule under the agreement, the Stadium East track was to be refurbished over a two-month period from February 1 to March 31, with work on the main track set to start in the second week of May, following the Jamaica International Invitational, and end by the first week of July.

Those dates are totally out the window now.

"We are looking at getting to both of them (tracks) after National Trials, but I can't give any details because I don't have the information," Major Brown said.

"In fact, you know we had to do some repairs in the Boys' and Girls' Champs (March 24-27) because the delivery dates are slipping," he added.

Under a barter agreement between Jamaica and Singapore last December, it was agreed that Intersurface Pte Limited, the Singaporean company that installed the track for the Youth Olympics set for August 14-26 next year in that country, would undertake the work at Jamaica's National Stadium.

They got the nod over four other companies, including German-based Regupol and Mondo Incorporated out of the United States, which also submitted bids to the Government.

"The Singapore company had to be used because we were getting a better deal and the Singapore entity that is picking up the cost wanted a Singapore company to be used," Grange told the Observer in December.

The barter arrangement involved Jamaica helping Singapore to market the inaugural Youth Olympics set for this summer.

The Observer first reported in January 2009 that the Stadium East track, which is used by Jamaica's top local senior and junior athletes to prepare for international competition, was in a deplorable state.

The main track, which was also laid at the National Stadium ahead of the World Junior Championships in 2002, is also deteriorating.

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