Franklyn ... many prediciting a gloom which has negative impact. - Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer

Edmond Campbell, News Coordinator

With evangelistic fervour, junior minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Delano Franklyn, on Friday rebuked detractors of Cricket World Cup 2007, saying there were persons who were "hell-bent" on seeing the country fail in its efforts at staging the world's third largest sporting event.

Making his presentation to the State of the Nation debate in the Senate, the state minister expressed confidence that Jamaica, and by extension the region, would, beginning on March 11, be staging a successful Cricket World Cup.

Negative impact

Without naming persons, Senator Franklyn said many were predicting gloom in terms of the country's preparedness, which at times had a negative impact on the promotional activities of the organisers.

He told his parliamentary colleagues that when "officials" declare that Jamaica was not ready for Cricket World Cup 2007 and this information reached the international press, it stymied the efforts of the organisers who were vigorously promoting the event overseas.

"While the debate, generally speaking, is healthy in terms of what we should do and what we should not do, it becomes even more complex when signals (are) being sent by persons of importance giving the impression that we are not prepared as we ought to be," he stated.

Dismissing claims that the stadium in Trelawny would become a "white elephant", the junior minister for Foreign Affairs said the intention was to have a multi-purpose facility of which the people of western Jamaica would benefit significantly.

Millions yet to be spent

He announced that Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, who has portfolio responsibility for sports, would shortly be rolling out plans for the stadium.

Senator Franklyn also disclosed that it would cost $2 million per month, or $24 million per annum, to maintain the Greenfield Stadium in Trelawny. However, he said an institution has been identified that was prepared to cover the maintenance cost over a period of time.

The region will spend in total US$400 million to stage Cricket World Cup 2007 with Jamaica expending nearly US$100 million for the event.