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| Minister Skerritt (left to right) jokes with Ambassador Liu and PM Douglas. |
Basseterre, St. Kitts (March 12, 2007): Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas and Taiwanese Ambassador His Excellency John Liu were among members of an official party which toured the Warner Park cricket stadium on Sunday.
The tour took place on the same day of the opening ceremony of the ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) which was held later that evening in Jamaica.
Also in the touring party was Minister of Works Hon. Dr. Earl Asim Martin, Minister of State for Sports Hon. Richard Skerritt and other senior government officials as well as representatives from the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
Prime Minister Douglas noted that St. Kitts and Nevis was "ready to welcome the world" for the premiere cricket event which will run from March 14 to 24 in the twin island Federation. He extended appreciation to the various parties involved.
"I personally would like to thank & firstly the Government and people of the Republic of China (Taiwan) for the tremendous financial support that has been provided in making this venue ready and to host these matches," he said. "The LOC, the board, led by Mr. Charles Wilkin and the management team led by Mr. Horatio Versailles must also be commended for the tremendous work that has been done."
The Prime Minister thanked Ministers Skerritt and Martin for the leadership shown throughout this project. Special mention was also made of the construction workers.
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| A peak at Warner Park. |
"The ordinary man, the workers, the contractors, those who have been responsible for building, constructing, arranging and grassing & I want to personally commend them on behalf of the Government and people of St. Kitts and Nevis," he stressed.
The head of state expressed confidence that persons coming here to participate in the games will have an enjoyable time interacting with locals while witnessing top class cricket in a new state-of-the-art stadium. ~~adz:Right~~
Meanwhile, Jeremy Evans, the ICC's venue manager for St. Kitts and Nevis explained that the cooperation from local stakeholders has been outstanding.
"We've made huge strides over the last ten days, he stated. "The LOC has been magnificent in their effort & and I'm confident that we will deliver a great World Cup here in St. Kitts.
"We've also receive huge support from the Ministry of Sport and other (departments) in the government and we're eternally grateful for that support and encouragement."
Cricket teams from Australia, South Africa, Scotland and the Netherlands will be based in St. Kitts and Nevis during the Group Stage Matches. Many experts believe that the March 24 match-up between South Africa and Australia, listed as one and two respectively in ICC One Day International rankings is a preview of the final.
