Increased budget delays MoBay Sports Complex redevelopment

MINISTER OF Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, is yet to create a timetable for the restoration of the Montego Bay Sports Complex, which has been out of service for the past six years.

Speaking to Grange at the 10th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Montego Bay on Tuesday, she said plans for the stadium are back on the drawing board but it will cost more than the $200 million initially budgeted.

“I had a discussion with the minister of finance. At the time, when I said it was $200 million, the Sports Development Foundation (SDF) had budgeted funds to install the new track. But things didn’t work out because there has to be an arrangement for the SDF to put the money into a facility that it does not own or control.”

“So, the years have passed unfortunately and I am going to ensure that it’s done. We are going to have to get the support from the Ministry of Finance because the cost will now be quite high that the SDF wouldn’t have the kind of funds that is required to get the job done and done well,” Grange told The Gleaner.

The track has deteriorated tremendously over the past few years, and was taken out of service over fear that continued use could result in athletes suffering serious injuries.

This has negatively impacted athletes of western Jamaica.

The last time the Milo Western Relays was held at the Montego Bay Sports Complex, for instance, was in February 2018.

Since then, all major events such as Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) All Comers meet, Western Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships and other events have had to be shifted to venues as far as St Catherine.

In April, Mayor of Montego Bay, Richard Vernon, promised that the track at the Montego Bay Sports Complex would soon receive attention and he was meeting with Minister Grange to determine the timeline.

Grange pointed out that she has been in dialogue with Vernon, who wants to get it done and has written to her.

“I will be having a discussion with the mayor to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) so that we can see to the installation of a new track, renovations of a new facility and have an arrangement we can ensure that the maintenance is kept regularly, up to date and the facility does not fall into disrepair,” Grange said.

“The complex is under the management of the municipality; however Independence Park Limited, which falls under my ministry, has core responsibility for seeing to the maintenance and development of sports infrastructure,” Grange explained.

In the meantime, she said that she regrets the facility falling into disrepair.

“The public may be under the impression that the stadium falls under my jurisdiction but it does not. I do regret that the athletes in western Jamaica do not have a facility in which they could train. I will be using my best efforts as the minister of sports to see that something is done.”

The Montego Bay Sports Complex, which was developed at a cost of US$14.9 million, was opened in June 2010.