MIKE Fennell, chairman of the organising committee of the 49th CARIFTA Games that will be staged in Kingston in April, and Competition Director Ian Forbes have sought to reassure member federations that everything will be in place for the three-day championships.

The men said with decades of experience in organising world-class events, including several editions of the Carifta Games, Jamaica is prepared to deliver an event that will be on par with anything in the world.

Fennell, the former chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation, said there were two important things for the federations to know — that the channels of communication remain open and that the organising committee is fully aware of the task at hand.

At a virtual meeting held on Thursday to commemorate the 100-day countdown to the event, Fennell said, “We consider it an imperative that the dialogue remains open and continuous. We don’t have a lot of time; we have 100 days. It’s a very short time and we have many, many challenges to overcome.”

He said the success of the championships has wider considerations than just for sports. “We on the organising committee have not underestimated the task and the importance of this particular event. It is important not only to sports or to track and field, but also important to our countries as we all seek to recover, revive and re-energise ourselves from a period that has brought a lot of disaster and negative things around.”

Fennell added: “We have an opportunity, together, to show the rest of the world that together we can work in recovering from this disaster and this problem — but we have to plan and we have to do this and we need your full co-operation.”

Jamaica’s record, he said, should not be underestimated. “We have a track record in organising events to the highest standard on a regular basis. We have [the] stadium, we have the officials and all necessary technical equipment, and this could be done — and we will subject this to further refinement to ensure that what we are hosting will be as good as any other in the world.”

Forbes — who listed a number of events dating back to the 1962 Central American and Caribbean Games, and who included the British Empire Games (Commonwealth Games) in 1966, the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in 2002 and several editions of the Carifta Games — said, “We are very confident that we have the ability to execute flawlessly and ensure that the bar is raised. Our athletes have already raised the bar.”

Forbes said the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA), of which he is the first vice-president, last year during the pandemic would have executed approximately 50 meets, trained over 1400 COVID-19 marshals, and ensured that the sport remained on the forefront despite challenging circumstances, “so we know we have the ability to execute and execute well”.

Officials, he said, would have the opportunity for continued training. “We will have at least two meets each weekend leading up to the Carifta Games in April… and our official and volunteers will be trained and we will have even more COVID-19 marshals being trained. We are confident, and I assure you that things are on track and we have a very dedicated and committed team of technical experts and volunteers who continue to provide yeoman service to the sport.”