Dissatisfaction over Yorke Stadium
By Kinnesha George (T&T Newsday)
TOBAGONIANS would now have to wait a bit longer as there is still no word on when restoration and refurbishment work will be completed at the Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Scarborough.
In 2013, then Minister of Sport Anil Roberts revealed that repair work were under- budgeted by the ministry basing the figures on a report which was done in 2005. Roberts anticipated then, that this cost would be in the excess of $152 million, clearly not what they budgeted for with $77 million.
At this point, the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) intervened and agreed to cover the cost of resurfacing the mondo track, while the ministry would bear focus on the other aspects. In October 2014, OSH officials got involved and shut down the facility because of health and safety violations and with ten months later, the facility still remains closed.
In a meeting in March, Roberts’ replacement as Sport Minister Brent Sancho met with THA officials and pledged the commitment of the Central Government.
He committed to a mid- May timeline for completion of remedial work on the Stadium, after acknowledging to reporters that discussions were cordial. He also added that the process has started and at the ministry and by extension SPORTT (Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago), they would work assiduously to rectify the situation.
To this end, THA officials are once again voicing their dissatisfaction with the level of works undertaken.
THA Chief Secretary Orville London at Wednesday’s Post Executive Council News Briefing claims that there is a disconnect with the Central Government with respect to the maintenance of the Dwight Yorke Stadium.
“Three years ago, we would have had discussions with them on bringing the stadium up to International standards and there were two aspects to it, one was the state of the mondo track and the other of course the state of the pavilion and the building.
We made the commitment when they spoke about limited funding, recognising the significance of this facility to us in Tobago, we took the commitment although we did not have specific funding for it to utilise funding to install the finest mondo track in the region; that was done. However to date, nothing has been done by the Ministry of Sport and the Sport Company; in fact one of the major challenges we have is lighting and for three years nothing has been done.” Meanwhile, when contacted Assemblyman Jomo Pitt who has responsibility for sports also stated that he is indeed angry, especially based on the fact that the agreement was not kept from the Central Government.
Pitt recalled an agreement where the THA agreed to fix the track, while the ministry would handle the other issues, although the THA have lived up to their side of the bargain, the Ministry has not kept their word.
“The Dwight Yorke Stadium has been out of full commission for more three years, we did our part; any record set on that track will stand because of the international certification.
Our Dwight Yorke Stadium is the best in the Caribbean, if not the best in the Western Hemisphere, but is yet to be used because the ministry of Sport have not lived up to their word. To date the stadium lights are yet to be replaced, I am told that they were ordered months ago and are sitting in a warehouse somewhere in Trinidad.
On a few occasions, I have inquired as to the status of the lights and the reasons given could not stand up to logic.” He added that he finds it hard to believe that Central Government cannot seem to find the necessary funding to deal with Tobago’s affairs.
“If you suppose to do something and that is your responsibility, me en begging you to do it. Just as how we had to scrape up the money to replace the mondo track, we would find the money to get the lights up and going soon. What is even more frustrating is not no big set of money, is $3M which would take less than 2 ½ weeks to put the lights up. To find that money seems more like a challenge to Trinidad or moreso the Central Government, but finding $23M to pull up from a precipice a $8M fire truck no problem, even though the job cost $50,000. So you could find money for that but somehow is a challenge to find money for Tobago.” All calls to Sancho proved futile.
