Guyana president Bharrat Jagdeo visits Guyana National Stadium

Head of State, President Bharrat Jagdeo visited the Stadium upon his return from the Russian Federation last week to check on the final touches to one of the Caribbean venues for the super eight matches.

Accompanying the President was Minister of Transport and Hydraulics, Robeson Benn, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Local Organising Committee (LOC) Karran Singh and Technical Consultant of the Stadium, Walter Willis.

According to Willis, work on access roads and driveways to the Stadium and external fencing are nearing completion.

Shapoorji Pallonji, the Indian contracting firm has completed all civil works on the facility, and on February 13 GL Events, the official supplier of goods and services for CWC will take over the remaining works.

All works at the Stadium are expected to be completed before it is officially handed over to Cricket World Cup (CWC) on February 19.

Representatives of the Global Communications Corporation and International Cricket Council are due to arrive in Guyana to check on the readiness of the Stadium for the upcoming games.

The next stop for the Head of State was the Buddy’s International Hotel, a stone’s throw away from the Stadium where teams, officials, media personnel and sponsors will be accommodated during the two weeks of cricket.

Onsite at the hotel was owner Omprakash Shivraj and Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Manniram Prashad, who took the President on a tour of the fast evolving facility.

The hotel is set to be formally opened on February 20 and according to Shivraj, a special programme is being planned for that date. 

Finally, Jagdeo stopped briefly at the Guyana International Conference Centre (GICC) at Liliendaal to check on landscaping work being done there ahead of the Rio Group Summit set to commence on February 28.

Meanwhile, several meetings at the Prime Ministerial and other levels are being staged in preparation for the upcoming prestigious event.