City Lights

City of Bridgetown MP Corey Lane has disclosed that his constituents are set to secure 1 200 jobs and several other benefits when the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T20 World Cup comes to town in a few months.

The news on Friday came a week and a half after he publicly complained that he and his constituents had been left out of planning for the highly anticipated tournament.

“I’m excited about and I’m very happy now with the organisation of World Cup and their communication with the City of Bridgetown, I’m a very happy MP,” he said.

The declaration follows Lane’s meeting with the National Organising Committee for the June 1-29 tournament at Caribbean cricket’s famed mecca, Kensington Oval, in the heart of his constituency.

“Corey Alexander Lane JP, MP is a happy MP this morning as it relates to World Cup. I said a few weeks ago it was disappointing and the fact is I was disappointed…. But the fact of the matter is right after making those statements, the National Organising Committee reached out to me, had a number of meetings and I am happy that over 1 200 jobs will be provided for persons in the area,” he declared.

And that’s not all. Residents in Bridgetown and its environs will benefit from improved roads and signage. But Lane noted that while households would not benefit from upgrades to their houses as they did during the 2007  Cricket World, there are plans for a spruce-up competition that would see residents receiving supplies to make the improvements.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a presentation at the St Stephen’s Primary School this morning, Lane said the biggest score for the people of The City are several legacy projects that will continue beyond the mega sporting event.

“So, when the last ball is bowled at the finals, it doesn’t end there for the City of Bridgetown and all those that are in the environs. There’s a vendors’ village that will be established that we will work with the NCF [National Cultural Foundation] to have something . . . with the persons coming out of cruise ships, chipping down the road, where they chip down to the vendors’ area. There are going to be food courts,” he explained.

In addition, the City MP said, Pelican Village is to be transformed into a Fan Zone during the World Cup, which will remain and be expanded.

“It is said that it will rival Oistins when we are finished with it. So Oistins, watch out. We’ll be selling the fish, we’ll be selling craft. I had the honour of opening one of the grill and bars there and I can tell you down there is going to be a place to be when the Friday and Saturday nights come as well,” he said.

Lane however made clear that new projects would not displace current vendors in the area. He explained that more stalls would be erected at the location and the intention is to bring more foot traffic to vendors to boost their revenue.

“So we are talking about from  [the traffic lights] at Westbury, we talk about President Kennedy Drive, we talk about there by the beginning of the Mighty Grynner Highway. So it would be a walking zone and that’s what vendors like – foot traffic, because foot traffic brings the market.

“It’s just that a lot of the persons from The City, we’ve been able to negotiate that they’ll get some prime spots because, for goodness sake, you have to make sure that the persons  in the area benefit. So they get the front line, they get to have the first call for the stalls inside of Kensington as well,” he added.

However, Lane pointed out that this would be managed by the ICC which is slated to take over the operations at Kensington Oval from around next month.

“But the communication is through the National Organising Committee. They are making that representation so that they can get those types of things as well. So there’s no displacement, there’s just addition and enhancement,” he said.

Kensington Oval will host five preliminary matches of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, three Super 8 matches and the June 29 final.

sandydeane@barbadostoday.bb