Adrian Frater, News Editor

'Through the Ministry of Sports, the Sports Development Foundation and the St James Parish Council, the required resources were identified and the project started.'

Western Bureau:

Jamaica's bid to stage a successful 2011 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship is expected to fall back in line by midday today as the infrastructural work being done at Jarrett Park is slated to finish before the tournament starts officially at 12:30 p.m. at the Catherine Hall Stadium.

Following last Wednesday's rejection of the 'grassless' Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium, which the CONCACAF inspection team described as unfit to host the games, Jarrett Park got the green light as a replacement, pending certain infrastructural adjustments.


minor works

"The CONCACAF asked us to put in an enclosed VIP area, a press centre and a medical station in addition to any minor works," said Montego Bay's Mayor, Councillor Charles Sinclair, who heads the tournament's Local Organising Committee (LOC).

"Through the Ministry of Sports, the Sports Development Foundation and the St James Parish Council, the required resources were identified and the project started."

When Star Sports visited Jarrett Park on Saturday afternoon, except for fine tuning work on the playing surface, no major infrastructural work was seen taking place. However, Mayor Sinclair said there was no need for undue alarm as the project was on target.

"What we are putting in are temporary structures and we have an experienced contractor dealing with that," he said.

"All the work should be ready for use before the tournament's opening game, which will be played at the Catherine Hall Stadium, starting at 12:30 p.m. on Monday (today)."


media


Charles Sinclair - file

In explaining the scope of the work for Jarrett Park, Sinclair said the media centre, which is to host the local and international media, will be in the form of a tent and will be located on the roof of the building housing the changing rooms.

"On completion, the press centre will have all that is required to meet the needs and comfort of a working journalist,' said Sinclair. "All is in place to put in the required infrastructure and electrical works."

In regard to the VIP area and medical station, which will also be temporary structures, the mayor said those areas have been identified and it was only for the contractor to get the job done.

"We have identified the area for the VIP section, which will house the dignitaries and we also have no concerns about getting it ready as we have an experienced contractor on the job," stated a confident Sinclair. "The situation is much the same for the medical station."

Jarrett Park, which was initially rejected as a match venue, will see its first action on Wednesday in the form of a double-header featuring El Salvador versus Haiti at 12:30 p.m. and Panama versus Cuba at 4:30 p.m.