MoBay Stadium now officially open

Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

The new J$1.4 billion Montego Bay Stadium, with a seating capacity of 7,500 and located in the Catherine Hall area, is expected to play a pivotal role in the region's bid to build on its enviable tradition of producing world-class track athletes and footballers.

Speaking at Saturday's official opening of the stadium, which was done during the staging of the second renewal of the Western Primary Invitational Track Meet, Montego Bay's Mayor, Councillor Charles Sinclair, said the entire west welcomed the new facility and was looking forward to using it to further build on the region's rich sporting history.

"I want to express my sincere appreciation to the Government of Venezuela for making this wonderful and much-needed facility a reality," said Sinclair. "My hope is that, before long, the seating capacity will be increased from the existing 7,500 to 15,000."

He added: "I am calling on all users of this stadium to take care of it and not abuse it in any way. Let us use it to identity and develop stars for the future."

Venezuelan ambassador to Jamaica, Noel Martinez-Ochoa, who represented his Government at the ceremony and participated in the unveiling of a special plaque, said the gift of the stadium was yet another indication of his country's appreciation of the long-standing friendship it has had with Jamaica.

"Jamaica and Venezuela have had a long-standing friendship and it our wish to continue to build on this friendship," said Martinez-Ochoa. "We hope this stadium will play a big role in helping Jamaica to produce more outstanding sporting heroes for the future."

North west St James Member of Parliament, Dr Horace Chang, who represented the Government of Jamaica at the ceremony, said that after what was a protracted wait, it was nice to finally have the new stadium completed and ready for use.

"The west has had a long history of producing world-class perfor-mers in various sports and with a facility like this, I have every reason to believe it will help us to maintain that fine tradition," said Dr Chang. "I want to use this opportunity to recommend that sports be given more prominence in the curriculum of our schools. It is big business globally and many of our youngsters could earn a decent living through sports."

While noting that major works on the stadium was now completed, deputy chairman of the Urban Development Corporation, Donovan Lewis, said: "While we have opened the stadium, it will only be available for limited use at this time as there is still some additional work to be done.

"We will be installing floodlights, putting in multi-purpose courts, completing the parking area and doing the landscaping."