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http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,242789.html15,000 LIVES AT RISKSEAN DOUGLAS Wednesday, April 26 2017PRINCES Town MP Barry Padarath yesterday warned that as many as 15,000 lives could be at risk at a star-studded T20 match on May 13, to formally open the billion-dollar Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba.
Padarath said major questions remain outstanding on the safety of the structure, a decade after its original planned completion date.
On May 13, retired TT and West Indies batting star Brian Lara himself will lead a team against an invitational side led by retired Indian batting star Sachin Tendulkar, in a T20 match, to formally open the stadium. Minister Smith announced the sale of tickets for this match during last Thursday’s post-Cabinet news conference.
Several efforts to reach Smith for comment yesterday proved futile.
Opposition MP Padarath questioned the structural integrity of the stadium saying a full assessment, under the former People’s Partnership government, identified significant structural, drainage and design flaws.
He called on Government to, “make public, all relevant documentation that the stadium and grounds were assessed and deemed safe and fit for public use.” Padarath asked whether or not the stadium met international safety standards, claiming Government was silent on what was done to address significant and hazardous structural defects identified by construction expert Gerry McCaffrey in 2009.
“Mc Caffrey indicated that on two separate occasions, independent testing was done to the welds on the stadium and (they) failed the required standard,” Padarath said.
In addition, the structural steelwork was, “effectively condemned”, in the Uff Commission of Inquiry report yet Government has not stated what remedies were effected. “In yet another attempt to distract from the important issue of safety, Government announces a celebrity match to mark the opening of the refurbished stadium. But citizens remain in the dark as to whether the venue has met internationally accepted standards for public safety,” Padarath said.
The findings of construction expert Gerald Mc Caffrey of the British firm Acutus was reported in Newsday on March 22, 2009, in a story headlined, Tarouba Stadium Steel ‘Condemned’.
State enterprise Udecott (Urban Development Company of TT), which oversaw refurbishment of the stadium, yesterday indicated in a press release that a news conference will be held today at 11 am the TT Cricket Board office in Balmain, Couva to, “inform of the rigorous preparation and ongoing testing of the pitches and players’ facilities at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba, in accordance with requirements set by the WIBC (West Indies Cricket Board) and the ICC (International Cricket Council).” UDECOTT: STADIUM SAFE Udecott chairman Noel Garcia, in a second press release issued just before 6 pm yesterday, attacked comments which questioned the safety and structural integrity of the stadium.
And while not calling any names, Garcia demanded “individuals” making these statements withdraw them and apologise to the nation.
Udecott “categorically refutes statements that the Brian Lara Cricket Academy is not safe and fit for use,” the release stated. Garcia, in the release, said it was “passing strange” that individuals would make “irresponsible” statements after extensive remedial work was undertaken at the Academy over the past nine months to deal with issues outlined in the Uff report. Garcia said that the comments were mischievous and designed to create fear and panic especially since Udecott conducted all remedial work to ensure the facility conforms to current international codes governing sporting facilities. In addition, the release stated, Udecott commissioned a number of architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical and civil surveys.
And the findings, as tabled in these reports with supporting documentation, found the Academy to be safe for use, the release added. “I call on the irresponsible individuals to withdraw such statements and apologise to the people of Trinidad and Tobago,” Garcia said in the release.
In a separate statement, Naparima MP Rodney Charles questioned government’s priorities hitting the planned opening of the stadium when students of the Reform Hindu School “remain neglected by Government” and are housed in the “worst conditions”, while the over 90 percent complete new school languishes, unopened due to a, “lack of funding.” Charles said the Prime Minister and his Cabinet should be ashamed to come to the opening ceremony of the stadium with the unopened Reform Hindu School mere metres away.