TRINIDAD and Tobago’s Minister of Housing and the Environment Dr Roodal Moonilal said it may cost as much as TT$1.1 billion (US$173 million) to complete the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad.

Over TT$900 million has already been spent on the project, which started in May 2005 and which was initially estimated to cost $275 million. The stadium has a capacity for 17,000 and was scheduled to be completed before the hosting of the Cricket World Cup in 2007.

The minister toured the facility on Tuesday with UDeCOTT Chairman Jerlean John, board member Glen Parmassar and project manager Gerard Niles, as well as several other HDC/ UDeCOTT projects in south Trinidad, which included the housing site at Princes Town, the South Academy for the Performing Arts and Chancery Lane Administrative Complex in San Fernando.

During the tour, the minister saw several cracked, unpainted walls, flooded locker rooms, incomplete ceilings and an overgrown cricket field.

The minister said, “The big decision for us is do we park it up and leave it as an eyesore in Tarouba, or do we try to finish it and have some type of utility value in terms of international sport? And if we do that, then we have to take a decision to spend a significant amount of money. And it is a matter really that Cabinet must consider.”

“The Brian Lara (Stadium) is a headache at this time, because if you go forward you spend enormous resources. If you park it up, you have wasted enormous resources.”

He said the next step in the project was for UDeCOTT to compile a report on the issues and, through his ministry, a note would be taken to Cabinet to seek approval on the way forward for the stadium.

He said a scientific team will have to conduct tests on the soil to confirm or deny if the stadium was built on shifting clay.

“If that is so, that would run up the cost much further than TT$100 million. It could take us to $150 or $200 million.”

He said “the final cost at this stage, we are looking at TT$1.1 billion for the cricket facility”.

As to whether the cost of the stadium could ever be recovered, the minister said “not in my lifetime”.

The minister pointed to several problems that needed to be tackled at the stadium, observing the way it was built, 90 per cent of any crowd at the stadium would get wet.

On a positive note, the minister said the structure’s two floors for media personnel, and another for officials meant it could attract sporting events on an international level. He said with the upsurge of 20/20 cricket all over the world, it was a possibility that the facility could be a future site for the game, but it would require significant financial resources.