A 2.4 million dollar contract has been awarded to C&J Electrical Services for the rehabilitation of lights at the Windsor Park Sports Stadium.
A ceremony was held at the stadium on Thursday, January 5, 2022 to celebrate the awarding of the contract to C&J Electrical Services.
Minister of State in the Ministry of Culture, Youth Sports and Community Development, with specific responsibility for Youth and Sports, Hon. Oscar George stated that he is elated that they have reached this stage in the rehabilitation of the Windsor Park Sports Stadium.
“At the 2022/2023 National Budget, our Prime Minister indicated and I quote’ The restoration of the lighting at the Windsor Park Stadium to boost the continued hosting of local regional and international sporting activities will commence,” end quote. And therefore, we at the Ministry of Sports we are very delighted and pleaed to announce the actual launching of the project and making this lighting project a reality,” Hon. George stated.
Minister George noted that with the emergence of new tournaments, Government must ensure that Dominica’s infrastructure meets international standards in order to put the country in the conversation for hosting of international games and tournaments.
“We see the emergence of the Caribbean Premier League; we have seen the emergence of T20 Leagues around the world including our very own local Dream11 Nature Isle T10; we see the advent of T10 cricket; we also see the advent of the 6IXTY which is a new and exciting form of cricket. And all these different tournaments say to us that we have to have world class lighting infrastructure to ensure we can attract games in the night, and for this reason we all should be proud to get to this point,” he noted.
Over 8.3 million dollars have been spent so far on the rehabilitation of the stadium since the damage caused by Hurricane Maria.
“This investment we are about to do here today in terms of lighting, it follows on from a number of investments that we have made over the years. For instance the stadium roof and the related facility repairs, we spent over six million dollars in that regard. The replacement of the electric scoreboard, we spent over 1.6 million dollars for that; and of course the reconstruction of the metal supports to support the electronic scoreboard, we spent 121 thousand dollars. And of course just recently, we had spent over 300 thousand dollars in preparation for the T20 International games between West Indies and Bangladesh. So over 8.3 million dollars have been spent on the Windsor Park Sports Stadium just in the last three or four years and that in itself is very significant for us and for sports in general. And now, we are here to spend another 2.4 million dollars so that we can advance the first phase of this lighting project,” Hon. George furthers stated.
The Minister congratulated the successful contractor, adding that the Ministry will support him through this very important project.
“To the contractor congratulations first and foremost; I wish you all the best in terms of delivering on this contract. It is a very important contract for us. Its phase one and it is very important that we deliver on this project because this year, I can assure you that we have a lot of activities and sporting events that will be enhance if we have the lights and it is something that the athletes and the general public have been calling for o it is important that you deliver. You have the support of the PS, you have the support of myself, you have the support of the entire Ministry, you have the support of the Sports Coordinator and of course the DCA and the stadium committee that can give you some feedback and some advice and recommendations. So all the best to you,” Minister George added.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sports, Culture, Youth, Sports and Community Development, Mr. Lucien Blackmoore gave an overview of the project.
“We have the four poles. Two were totally decimated by Hurricane Maria and two remain standing but you can see that the lighting apparatus itself are in a dysfunctional state. And where they are situated right now is not ideal for the game of cricket. So those towers that are now standing first of all have to be taken down, they have to be dismantled. The foundations where they are have to be demolished. And they will be re-erected and placed further back, maybe about eight meters back from where they are right now. We will now have six of those towers and every tower will have about fifty eight bulbs in there,” Mr. Blackmoore stated.
He explained that new poles will be added as well as complete rewiring of the underground circuits.
Director of C&J Electrical Services, Mr. Watson Clinton Canoville says he looks forward to this project, promising to deliver his best.
The contract was awarded on December 28 2022, with a two and a half weeks mobilization period. The project began on January 18 2023 and is expected to last three months.