Plans afoot to make Trelawny stadium profitable

With its World Cup related activities out of the way, the search is now on for a management team to ensure the continued productive use of the Trelawny Multi-purpose Sports Complex in Jamaica.

The stadium hosted four warm up matches as well as the lavish opening ceremony, March 11.

Its construction was not universally supported, with many questioning whether the country could afford the cost of its construction and whether it would become a proverbial 'white elephant', under-utilised and improperly managed.

Similar issues have been raised in several other West Indian territories in which new stadiums were built or substantially upgraded for the international event.

Patrick Harris, MP for North Trelawny, the constituency in which the new Jamaican stadium is located, is in no doubt about its viability.

"I know for sure that many people are interested in the management of that facility. The government simply has to make a decision as to which entity will manage it, but the selection process has to be above reproach and the rules must be clear to everyone", he was quoted as saying by the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

It will not be 'management by committee', he stressed, noting that the running of the stadium would be undertaken by a private management company with relevant expertise to make it a profitable venture.

Discussions were being held "at the ministerial level", he said, with a view to determining who will manage the facility, "and once the decision is made, I expect the implementation to be swift".

While wanting to see the stadium being made available to the local community for activities such as cricket and football, Harris, a member of the ruling party, conceded that those events were unlikely to generate the levels of revenue required for the facility's proper maintenance.

He, like many other stakeholders, is therefore hoping that it will attract English football teams and North American baseball teams for post-season training as well as organisers of major cultural events including large concerts and stage shows.

Once it is able to earn enough revenue from these "big ticket" items, the managers of the stadium would be able to allow it to be used by locals at a subsidised rate, he reasoned.

In the meantime, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller is seeking to erect additional facilities to the existing structure at Trelawny, thereby justifying its rather grandiose "multi-purpose sports complex" title.

Simpson Miller disclosed that her government intended to add another stadium with a football field and running track, as well as an indoor arena for other sports such as netball, basketball and boxing.

Residential accommodations will also be built so that various teams preparing for major engagements can stay at the multi-purpose complex while training, the prime minister said.

She declined, however, to disclose how the additional facilities would be financed.

Low cost funds were provided by China to build the new Trelawny stadium.

Ideally placed on Jamaica's booming North Coast tourism belt, it is expected that the Trelawny complex will figure prominently in the country's new emphasis on sports tourism. This was confirmed in an earlier interview with David Shields, Jamaica's deputy director of tourism, responsible for marketing.

Buoyed by the estimated over two billion people that watched the televised opening ceremony for the Cricket World Cup, Shields said that the country's tourism officials were now seeking to build on that foundation.

(IANS)

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