TEN thousand Christians, some armed with machetes, brooms, shovels and gloves, will descend on Kingston later this month to rid the city of garbage ahead of the March 11 start of Cricket World Cup 2007, hopefully putting to rest concerns that the capital will not be ready to host the regional tournament.

Under the umbrella group Hope 2007, Christians drawn from various denominations islandwide will bear testimony to the ancient proverb “cleanliness is next to godliness” as they partner with the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC) on the massive two-day, clean-up campaign from February 24 to 25.

The western end of the island, where some of the games will be played, will also receive a facelift as a smaller team will also be working to clean up the streets in that part of the island.

“We feel we have the bodies [manpower] to offer this nation, and the mayor will know where are the places that we will be needed, so we want to help with painting, cleaning of garbage and whatever else we possible can,” said Errol Rattray, chairman of HOPE 2007.

He made the announcement yesterday during a media launch of the initiative at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston.

Rattray also appealed to corporate Jamaica to fund the initiative. He said the activities planned under the Hope 2007 banner – which will include a massive outreach programme – will cost $12.5 million.

Reverend Percival Palmer, co-chairman of Hope 2007 and Jamaica lead facilitator of Caribbean Sports Reach, said the initiative would also be carried out in Barbados, St Kitts and Guyana, some of the regional countries where the games are to be held.

“It is a Caribbean-wide initiative as a lot of Caribbean countries are buying into the idea and are mobilising Christians in these countries to be a part of it,” he said.

The ICC Cricket World Cup will begin with an opening ceremony on March 11 in Jamaica, and is scheduled to end on April 28 with the final games in Barbados.

The organisers expect that more than 100,000 visitors will come into the Caribbean to attend the series of limited-overs games in the nine countries – Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Kingston Mayor Desmond McKenzie in lauding the church’s effort, said the KSAC was committed to the programme, while noting that the city’s $28-million clean-up budget would be spent on priority areas.

“The original budget was for $191 million and we have come down to $28 million, and so we are looking at priority areas,” the mayor said.

He said the Christian volunteers would be deployed to select communities within the city. “It won’t be an ad hoc situation where they just get up and go anywhere; it is something that we will be working out the details of,” McKenzie said.

He added that the two-day clean-up will be done in conjunction with the beautification programme being undertaken by the Ministry of Local Government as well as the local cricket organising committee.

McKenzie later told the Observer that based on the Church initiative, as well as the work that had already started, he was confident that the city would be ready by the end of February.

“We will facilitate and ensure that all that is required will be made available for the success of this initiative and we will not fail,” the mayor said.

“Overall, where we are now, I am comfortable and with this involvement of 10,000 volunteers it will be a far way in ensuring that we have a city that is presentable,” he continued.

According to McKenzie, the initiative will have one of the greatest impact of all initiatives in the last 25 years as it is non-confrontational and non-political

“I am quite certain that the only thing the Christian community is expecting to gain from that partnership is more souls for the Kingdom,” the mayor said.

Under the Hope 2007 banner, the church will also use the opportunity for outreach and the staging of activities. Within what will be termed ‘the Hope Zone’, there will be prayer, music and counselling, among other activities.