Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter
Robert Bryan... we are going full speed ahead.
DESPITE AN estimated 12 to 14 days of lost construction time at the Sabina Park, executive director of Jamaica Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 Ltd., Robert Bryan, insists that while under severe pressure, there is no danger of the venue not being finished in time for the 2007 World Cup.
"We have been having regular meetings on a number of levels. We are in direct communication with the cement company and ensuring that priority is given to these projects for the delivery of cement, and I can assure you that we are receiving supplies of cement in bulk," Bryan said at a Rotary Club of Kingston luncheon at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel yesterday.
"As we speak, there is pouring going on at both sites in earnest," he said of Sabina Park and the Greenfield site in Trelawny.
"We have also been working with the CWC venue manage-ment department, assessing the situation, and they themselves have assisted from a regional standpoint in focusing on different plans for ensuring the continuous supply of cement," he stated.
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The cement crisis, which saw more than 500 tonnes of defective cement recalled, all but crippled the construction sector in Jamaica and affected the broader Caribbean since late last month.
At Sabina Park, the shortage is said to mostly affect the completion of the new North Stand, but Bryan believes that the expected October deadline will still be met. In the meantime, work at the Greenfield site is expected to be completed ahead of schedule.
"We have been meeting the contractors to ensure that the necessary scheduling and so forth that is required as a result of the delays that we have experienced is done, whether it is by increasing the workforce or otherwise," Bryan said.
Despite concerns raised that some of the cement used in construction so far may have been of sub-standard quality, the executive director assured the public that tests done on the cement used has not shown that to be the case.
While unable to speak definitively on behalf of the rest of the region, Bryan indicated that while most of the region faced cement difficulties, with the exception of Guyana, which has reportedly more than 190 tonnes of cement in stock at the Providence Stadium, he hasn't seen any major alarms raised through the relevant communi-cation channels.
