The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

IN an effort to keep the public abreast with the progression toward the Bahamas hosting the 2013 BTC Carifta Games, the local organising committee announced they would issue weekly updates.

Yesterday’s announcement – the track at the new Thomas A Robinson stadium has been officially certified and is ready for competition. This is the 42nd edition of the CARIFTA Games and more than 1,000 athletes and coaches, from about 26 countries in the Caribbean, are expected to compete.

“The stadium is ready, it has been certified by IAAF, any records being broken, and we intend to see much of that have been certified by the IAAF,” said chairman of the organising committee, Basil Christie.

A delegation, including Conrad Francis (technical delegate) and Allan Baboolal (organisational delegate representing the North American, Central American and the Caribbean Athletics Association, the governing body responsible for the Carifta Games), visited the capital last week to meet with members of the Carifta 2013 Bahamas organising committee.

The purpose of the visit was to discuss the plans and readiness for the Carifta Games scheduled for March 29 to April 1 at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium.

The delegates toured the stadium, held a series of meetings with committee members where they received status reports from technical, competitions, marketing, accommodations, housing and accreditation. Their overall impression was positive indicating that the organising committee was progressing well with plans for the Games.

“They confirmed that the stadium is the best they have seen in the Caribbean,” Christie said.

Christie also announced that tickets are available on the website www.carifta2013.com - local ticket offices open on February 28.

“We encourage you to buy your tickets as soon as possible, we want to ensure the stadium is filled with a strong local presence. We are confident with our pledges and commitment, that we are satisfied that we are going to reach our budget. The tickets were highly motivated to fill the stadium, so the tickets start as low as five dollars. There is also preferred seating. A lot of people want to be near to the finish line. These tickets start from $5, $10 or $20 and there are season tickets in the VIP which start from $55. I think every aspect of our planning is in place and we will be ready.

“Our biggest challenge was accommodations. All of our activities are working. We just don’t make public statements on what we are doing, but everything will be in place. We have a very organised security team and we have the cooperation of the police. We have as many as 500 police officers assigned to CARIFTA, and as many security officers who will be in the stadium and at the games village as well as the parking lots. Every committee has gone through training. The volunteers, the ushers and security. The availability of parking will necessarily be a concern and that is being worked on. If we are filling the stadium with 15,000 people, there will have to be some car pooling and bussing. There is a system in place for organised parking,” ” Christie said.