THE FIFA Goal Bureau yesterday granted permission to the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) for its contractor, Tank-Weld Group, to commence construction of the FIFA Goal Project on the campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona.

Construction is scheduled to begin in two weeks (Thursday, January 21), following final approval from Kingston Mayor Desmond McKenzie, which, according to JFF president Captain Horace Burrell, is expected early next week.

“I received, a few hours ago, written correspondence from the FIFA Goal Bureau in Zurich approving our Goal Project to be situated at our new location on the UWI Mona Campus. This is going to be our technical centre,” beamed Captain Burrell in an exclusive interview with the Observer last evening.

“I am heartened by this news and if this is an indication of how this year is going to be for football, then certainly I am overjoyed, because as you all know, there is no doubt in anybody’s mind that this year is going to be tough, and the fact that we are able to receive this confirmation is certainly good news thus far,” added the JFF boss, who first broke ground in Portmore, St Catherine, for the construction of the Goal Project/National Football Academy more than six years ago.

Phase One of the Goal Project will include two full-sized training fields with proper underground irrigation systems; perimeter fencing, the construction of rest rooms and changing facilities, as well as facilities for technical staff.

Tank-Weld Group won the tender from a group of three in the final stages, and Burrell has no doubts that they will get the job done on time. They are expected to provide the expertise to develop the training fields.

“The contractor is the well established company Tank-Weld Group, which we have every confidence that they will complete this project on time,” he said, adding: “Tank-Weld Group’s reputation precedes them, they are a highly professional company, so I am satisfied that the process was followed and the best contractor has been selected for the job.”

He added: “I want to express thanks to the six-member Goal Project Committee headed by former JDF chief of staff, General John Simmonds, Carvel Stewart, Leighton McKnight, Howard McIntosh, Saleem Lazarus and Rev Calvin Baker, which has worked tirelessly to see this through.”

The JFF boss also paid tribute to UWI head professor Gordon Shirley and his technical and engineering staff, which made the six-and-a-half acres available to the JFF.

“The UWI is developing a major sporting facility and this is a part of it,” noted Captain Burrell.

The grant from the FIFA Goal Bureau is US$400,000, which will be paid over directly to the contractor, and completion of the project is expected by the end of August.

Following its completion, FIFA and CONCACAF presidents Joseph ‘Sepp’ Blatter and Austin ‘Jack’ Warner, respectively, will be invited to the inauguration ceremony sometime in September.

But a livid Captain Burrell lashed out at the former Crenston Boxhill-led administration, which moved the site from Portmore to Malvern in St Elizabeth, after deeming the location unsuitable for a training centre.

That incomplete facility was later termed a “tragedy” by regional boss Warner when he viewed the facilities in 2007, prompting the JFF to seek permission from the FIFA to relocate to the UWI.

“Right now we are at the back of the line because of the tremendous bungling which took place during the former administration,” bemoaned Burrell.

“Right now this administration is committed to moving ahead rapidly to catch up with the rest of the world, many of whom have two or three Goal Projects,” claimed the JFF boss.

Now Burrell plans to apply for Goal Project Two immediately after the completion of the first phase, as no National Association can be considered for additional projects until the preceding ones have been successfully completed.

“Most countries have got two and three projects, so having spoken to FIFA, I am confident that we will obtain Goal Projects Two and Three,” he assured, adding that his administration has already done up all the drawings for phases two and three.

Goal Projects Two and Three will comprise dorms, gyms, physiotherapy facilities and parking lots.