Wheelchair bound World Cup spectators face no problem

Wheelchair bound spectators, who visited the Queens Park Oval, are all praise for the World Cup venue where provisions have been made for them to gain access to the ground.

"I am having a good time at the Oval and being in a wheelchair hasn't been an inconvenience. I'm seeing all the action and the volunteers have been helpful to us whenever we needed them," said Shane Buckridan, a disabled student from St. Elizabeth Home for the Handicapped.

Buckridan was accompanied by nurse Sandra Nicome Affong Wednesday, to watch the Sri Lanka-Bangladesh match. Affong said that the volunteers and attendants were helpful in escorting them to their designated seating area and that they were given good seats from which to watch the match.

"It is nice to know that organising committees took the needs of the disabled into consideration in preparing the stadiums for the matches. Here we have been able to access our seats with ease and have not had to worry about blocking other spectators wanting to move around. We also have enough space to move freely if we need to go and get something to drink, or just go for a walk between innings," said Affong.

Pani Merath, another wheelchair user who travelled from Sri Lanka with his mother to support his team, was also pleased with the facilities at the Port of Spain venue.

"I did not encounter any problems getting to my seat. After the staff checked our tickets, they allowed us to get to the entrance of our stand by car. This made it a lot easier. Everyone has been very understanding and helpful," said Merath.

His mother, Milina, said her son is a "huge cricket fan and to be able to come to Trinidad and watch Sri Lanka play is a real joy for him".

"Pani being in a wheelchair has not posed any problem for us here at the venue and we have good seats with a great view of the field. We're now looking forward to attending some of the other matches," she added.

Anand Daniel, CEO of the Trinidad and Tobago Local Organising Committee (LOC) said that all efforts put into the Oval renovation have achieved the desired results as far as wheelchair-bound patrons were concerned.

"Today's modern stadiums and facilities must make provisions for a number of different stakeholders, wheelchair users included. It was always our intention that any renovations to Queen's Park would include provisions for them," he said.

"The investment in all the years of planning and meetings have paid off and we have a venue that is world class, one that caters to various user groups and one which we can be proud of."

(IANS)

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