CATHERINE HALL, St James – It is unlikely that the Montego Bay Sports Complex will be ready in time to host the Western Relays and the County of Cornwall Athletics Association (COCAA) Western Champs next year.

While plans for the refurbishing of the complex, situated in Catherine Hall, and the repairing of the all-weather synthetic running track are in an advanced stage, Olivia ‘’Babsy’’ Grange, the minister in charge of sports, says it is unlikely it would be completed by March 2023.

Due to the poor state of the track, the once-popular venue has not been used for track and field competition since 2018.

The Western Relays meet is usually held on the second Saturday of February and the Western Champs a week later.

During the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) National Junior and Senior Championships at the National Stadium last weekend, Grange, however, sought to assure the Jamaica Observer West that the Montego Bay Sports Complex will be refurbished.

“It is going to be done,” she stressed, adding that, “we have almost finalised the arrangements.”

“I doubt it will be ready by March because of the condition that it is now in, we will literally have to build a new track,” said Grange, noting that there are a lot of other areas that require serious attention.

Minister Grange said, however, when the refurbishing of the facilities are complete, “we can guarantee things will be first-classed and the stadium will be under proper management.”

The Mondo track was laid in 2002 but the facility that was built under the San Jose Accord, an agreement with the governments of Jamaica and Venezuela, was not officially opened until 2010.