BRYAN Paul-Andre Walker and Daraine Luton, Staff Reporters
With the onslaught of showers yesterday, Sabina Park faced its first real durability test with a few last minute scares coming out of the woodwork.
According to Robert Bryan, executive director of Jamaica Cricket 2007, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the Cricket World Cup, drainage at Sabina Park is now an issue.
After rains pelted sections of the island yesterday, Bryan admitted that Sabina Park was taking an unusually long time to drain itself.
"We are days away from a full system's test and before you hear it anywhere else let me tell you, after the rains today (yesterday) the water didn't run off the way it should have," said Bryan.
However, according to Denzil Wilks, the venue manager at Sabina Park, the problem was later identified to have been caused by a blockage of some drains in the stadium. He said they have since been cleared and noted that the likelihood of a recurrence is highly unlikely.
Mr. Bryan said the huge volume of work being done on the grounds caused sand to be collected in the drains.
More showers
According to the meteorological office, Sabina Park could be in for more tests of that nature with the four-day forecast showing partly cloudy skies with scattered showers due to a cold front and a surface trough just west of the island.
Despite the forecasts, Mr. Wilks has said the outfield is in perfect condition and can withstand any downpour.
When The Gleaner visited Sabina Park yesterday, other problems seemed to be surfacing. The north stand was almost totally void of seats and workmen were still carrying out installation work even with Sabina scheduled to host the opening game in just six days time.
The venue manager said the seats should have already been installed and will be in place in a few days.
"They will work tonight and into tomorrow ... the work will be finished within two to three days," Wilks assured said.
According to Bryan, some seats were already installed but the decision was taken on the weekend to remove them because of safety concerns.
"We have been pointing out that we have been having problems with the manufacturers for some time now," said Bryan.
"Firstly we had problems with the timeline because their first shipment of chairs came to us without a part that rendered them dysfunctional," he explained.
"Then we had safety concerns, where the seats didn't meet certain safety requirements. Because of this we took a decision to remove the seats".
Coming out of the problems, the LOC has sacked the manufacturing company producing the seats.
Bryan has so far refused to name the company that has been sacked and has not revealed the new manufacturers either.
