UNDER a merciless sun, tempered only by a stiff St Andrew breeze, ground was broken a third time for a FIFA Goal Project in Jamaica. When he spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony on University of the West Indies lands in Papine yesterday where the project will be sited, Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president Captain Horace Burrell preferred to put the two previous failed attempts at developing a technical facility on the backburner.

He opted, instead, to focus on the current project.

“This project has been confirmed in its entirety and funds have already been allocated to the project, and therefore, it’s all systems go,” a delighted Captain Burrell said.

Building plans for the FIFA-funded project — which will be done in three phases — have been submitted to the KSAC, Captain Burrell added.

“We have made all our submissions to the KSAC and we are very happy with the corporation and support of Mayor (Desmond) McKenzie and his team,” explained the veteran football administrator.

Also on site yesterday were representatives of Tank-Weld Ltd, contractors of the project who won the rights for construction through a tender process. They were selected from a shortlist by the General John Simmonds-led Goal Project Committee.

The first phase, which is expected to be completed “by September” and at a cost US$400,000, will include training fields, changing rooms, irrigation system and perimeter fencing.

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

Engineer Carvel Stewart, Goal Project Committee member, said he expects the first phase to be completed way ahead of September.

“This (phase) what we are about to do should be finished by June the latest,” he said.

Burrell explained that though it is reasonable to believe that the initial phase will be completed by June or July, he was taking no chances and has given the project “breathing space”.

“I am not leaving anything to chance, although this first phase can be completed by June or so… we want to be prepared for any eventuality that could cause a delay.

“I know once you have failed to deliver before, FIFA is going to be curious or even nervous, and therefore I have said that we should be finished with phase one by September, but I expect it to be done well ahead of this time,” he noted.

Captain Burrell, who was at the helm of the nation’s football when ground was first broken with FIFA president Joseph ‘Sepp’ Blatter in Portmore for a Goal Project back in 2003, warned that FIFA frowns upon member associations that mis-spends its funds.

“They (FIFA) view them (members) as being very disorganised and I don’t want Jamaica to be seen in this way, so I intend to follow this through closely to the end, as we intend to apply for Goal Project Two as soon as this one is finished,” said the CONCACAF Executive Committee member.

Following his defeat at the polls of the JFF congress by Crenston Boxhill in November of 2003, Captain Burrell’s Portmore site for the proposed academy was abandoned by the new administration and relocated to the hilly interior of Malvern in St Elizabeth.

Construction of phase one of that venture had started with the standard Goal Project Bureau grant of US$400,000, but the work stalled far from completion and was later deemed a “tragedy” by FIFA vice-president Austin ‘Jack’ Warner when he visited the location in 2007.

Chairman of the JFF Technical Committee, Howard McIntosh, who has long courted the idea of a technical centre, was pleased that the idea has received a new lease on life.

“I feel joy that we are moving forward in a positive way, we have the right partnerships now and hopefully in the end this will be a factory for future Reggae Boyz and will help in the further development of the current Reggae Boyz and Girlz,” he said.

“We will now have the opportunity to develop football in a structured way,” added McIntosh, a key ally of Captain Burrell.

Principal of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Professor Gordon Shirley, who was instrumental in making the six-and-half acres of the Mona lands available for the development of the technical centre, said the process was a smooth one.

“It was a natural rationale for the pieces coming together, and what had to happen was to remove the obstacles that would have prevented this (project) from happening, and that has happened without any major problems,” he said.

Also attending yesterday’s ceremony were Minister of Sports, Olivia Grange; Goal Project chairman General Simmonds; Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr Ronald Robinson; chairman of the Sports Development Foundation David Mais; and Reggae Boyz Luton Shelton, Adrian Reid and Lovel Palmer.