Press corps had mostly reliable services at Providence stadium
-suffered one internet shutdown
By Johann Earle
Stabroek News
April 16, 2007
The press corps and other officials enjoyed mostly reliable internet service, power supply and plumbing at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence during the staging of the six Super Eight quarter-final matches of the ICC Cricket World Cup.
The last Super Eight match at the Providence stadium was hosted on Monday between Ireland and New Zealand.
An overseas-based sport journalist said that for him everything went smoothly, save for one day when the wireless internet service shut down for about four hours. This was the day that the West Indies were beaten by Sri Lanka in the Super Eight matches.
He said that there was no other disruption of any utility service and things went smoothly.
This newspaper had carried reports on the preparation by the utilities to handle the demand for their services at the stadium.
The journalist said that the disruption occurred during the middle of the day and wouldn't have affected Caribbean journalists to a major extent. But he said that the journalists from India and other countries would have suffered because of the time difference.
Another journalist from Trinidad said that he was severely affected by the lack of internet connectivity during the game between the West Indies and Sri Lanka. According to Valentino Singh who works for the Trinidad Guardian, he wasn't able to send his periodic reports on the progress of the game and was only able to send a report after the match had ended. The shutdown lasted for the better part of the day, Singh said.
According to Singh, no one from the LOC came forward to offer an explanation as to why the internet was shut down and when it would have been back up. He said that engineers working on the problem informed the journalists that the service had been restored.
He also said that while the food wasn't all local cuisine, it tasted good and was well enjoyed. He made reference to the recent food poisoning case in Trinidad where the food had apparently been prepared too long in advance.
Singh is also of the view that the facility is a world class one. But he is concerned that the Cricket World Cup fell short of certain conventions known in other international events such as the FIFA World Cup, the Olympics and the Pan American Games. Singh couldn't understand why it was that accredited journalists still had to pay for parking and pay for the shuttle service. He pointed out that at the other world class events, such services are free for accredited journalists.
Singh said too that the air conditioning system was not working at its full capacity and at some times windows in the media centre had to be opened for ventilation. On the plumbing and toilet facilities, Singh said that there was no problem with these.
One avid West Indies cricket fan said that regardless of what was said during the run-up to the stadium's construction and after the hosting of the six matches, Guyanese have a right to be proud of the stadium. "Even though it was built from a large loan it is owned by the Guyanese people who have very little to be proud of," she said.
According to the fan the match between Ireland and New Zealand was boring, "yet you could have seen the excitement on the faces of those in attendance. I mean, I was at a World Cup match in my beautiful country in a stadium that could be compared to any of the others in the Caribbean."
She said that it felt so refreshing to be sitting in clean nice seats and not the wooden seats of Bourda. "And no one could throw liquid on you if you unfortunately happen to be sitting at the bottom," she said. The fan added that looking at the wide expanse of the field as one surveyed the ground, a feeling of pride soon wells up. "Like the excited children I had to visit the washroom and was very pleasantly surprised with the number of toilets available and the cleanliness of them, something that is almost foreign in Guyana," the young woman said.
She said that she was surprised when she didn't see long lines to use the toilets and she attributed this to the large number of facilities in the stadium. "All in all it was a good experience to be at the stadium and I have every intention of returning time and time again. My only hope is that the facility remains in good condition and those in authority ensure that the parking facility is completed," she said.
Maybe in time to come there would be something to view outside the stadium other than an empty cane field, the fan remarked.