SUNDAY SAUCE: Let the Games begin!
Published:Sunday | February 6, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Oxy Moron, Contributor
In 2007, it was completed at a cost of $248 million. It created some amount of controversy. Many said it was a waste of time and money. Those who had approached the Chinese for funding thought it was a good idea and defended its construction. With much fanfare, ground was broken, for it was supposed to spur economic development for the hilly community of Sligoville and surrounding districts. The next Asafa Powell and Veronica Campbell were expected to come from the area.
Consisting of a 600-seat ball court with night-lighting facilities, a 1,200-seat cricket oval, a 1,500-seat football field and a six-lane 400-metre track around the football field, it should have stood above any such complex in the island. Now, four years after it was opened, it is in ruins. Smack in the heart of St Catherine, the contentious Sligoville Multi-purpose Sports Complex is nothing but a glorified meadow.
When Oxy Moron visited the sprawling complex recently, many sections of the perimeter fence, painted in black, green and gold, were eaten or rusted away. The gates were wide open, leading to fields of knee-high clumps of grass. And it seemed like only crickets play on the pitch at night without any lighting.
In the football stands, many of the little, blue plastic seats have been corroded by the sun and rain. The only spectators I saw were four goats dying for a game to start. And while they waited they released little blacks balls. Well, that was a start. The running track, if there ever were one, has disappeared under the grass.
Behind the stands, Egrets perched on the fence of the ball court, painting it with their milk-white droppings. They might as well, because the complex is just a big white elephant. Now, where are the clowns?