Lesson learned
Ashby hopes SPORTT can improve procedures
By Kern De Freitas.The Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SPORTT) have accepted their share of the blame for last month's postponement of the 2011 Sagicor Open National Track and Field Championships, and CEO Errol Ashby says that event was a learning experience.
During a briefing on the status of the new Hasely Crawford track, the installation of which made the venue unavailable for the Championships, Ashby told the Express yesterday that bureaucratic red tape and subsequently rain, ruined any chance of the job finishing on time.
"What I can say that we can take blame for, is that we probably should have started a little sooner, but remember this is public procurement," said Ashby. "So sometimes you are ready to go, but the funds have to be released in a certain way, certain documents have to be submitted, so sometimes things weren't in our control."
Where SPORTT fell a bit short, Ashby said, was that the procurement process should have perhaps started a bit earlier to prevent the project's overlap into the rainy season.
With a little more cooperation from the weather, he said the project might have been completed on schedule. Originally earmarked to be concluded in mid-June, the laying of the track was set back by heavy rains, and was only completed this week.
Ashby described the Championships' postponement as "unfortunate", and said there "wasn't the communication" among SPORTT, the National Association for Athletics Administration (NAAA) and the Ministry of Sport.
"…A lot of misconceptions were fuelled because of misinformation and people saying 'ok, we're having our championships, can we have it, or can we have it not.' As an NSO (National Sporting Organisation), (the NAAA) should have had some contingency in place instead of pushing it back."
The Dwight Yorke Stadium, he said, was an alternative venue that could have been considered rather than postponing the event outright.
And Ashby said although it is a common thing to say a lesson has been learned, he is hoping that the operation of SPORTT and future relationships with the Ministry and other stakeholders will prevent such errors in the future.
The track installation—which includes removing the old surface, repairing the sub-base, pouring, installation, treatment, marking and certification—cost taxpayers a shade over $9 million.
And standing on the newly laid surface yesterday, Ashby was "more than pleased" at the finished product.
"I'm ecstatic," the former track athlete-turned lawyer said. "Why? Because this is the first of its kind in this region, this technology. We've gotten a good product, we've gotten value for money, because we paid a little over $9 million for supply and installation of this product."
Ashby said that the previous track lasted only a few years because it was not properly maintained, and this track which has a 15-year warranty and a life expectancy of 20 years must be given better care.
"What we have to do now is treat it properly and care for it, and maintain it as if it's a little child, and get as much out of it as possible as the money we spent for it… Moving forward we have to ensure we care for this track as if there is no more coming. This is it, it have nothing else to get. That's how we have to approach this track."
"The good thing about this track," Ashby added, "is that it is fit for this sort of climate. We can't fall back on the excuse that 'you know Mondo, temperate climate, it will deteriorate.' But a lot of what happened to the track has to do with we misused it. We didn't treat it and care for it they way we should have."
Ashby further said that during his tenure at SPORTT, he wants the Company to set standards in maintaining their facilities so that less money is wasted repairing facilities that become run down.
"When you come onto this track what are the dos and don'ts—from shoes and spikes to how you supposed to treat this. Because if we don't treat it like it's a scarce natural resource, it's going to be deteriorating in two to three years like the previous one."
TRACK TALK: Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago (SPORTT) CEO Errol Ashby, left, chats with SPORTT manager of elite athlete development and performance Tobias Ottley yesterday at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain. The new track has been completed at the venue, which will host the Hampton International Games today. —Photo: JERMAINE CRUICKSHANK