The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, Barbados, has shared an update on the redevelopment of the National Stadium amid the ongoing controversy.
The update shared that the renovation of the National Stadium is being proceeded by using the grant that has been funded by the People’s Republic of China.
The Ministry stated that the renovation has been planned to be taken ahead in phases. Following which in Phase 1 the aim is to develop Western Stand to have the seating capacity of 10,000 persons and also having all the necessary amenities made available. Further in Phase 1 a field events area and a 400-metre competition track are also included.
In Phase 2 the objective is to further expand the stadium, the major upgradation being addition of 10,000 people seating by adding another stand. For the warm-up track another 400-metre warm-up track on the site of the former Barbados Lumber Company will be constructed.
Although the warm-up track is officially part of Phase 2, it will be built concurrently with Phase 1 to meet accreditation requirements for the stadium.
The Ministry of Sports stated that before the beginning a formal agreement which included Letters of Intent and the Implementation Agreement were signed, after which both the involved parties began working on the project.
The statement said that the parties involved has been working diligently to ensure that the stadium’s design follows to Barbados’ regulatory standards.
Following this, all the documents related to the design of the stadium have been reviewed and approved by the Government of Barbados. All these documents are considered essential for proceeding further and also gives assurance that all the design requirements are met.
The reviewing and signing of the Design Development Documents is considered crucial by China Architecture Design and Research Group Company Ltd. and CIECC Engineering Company Ltd.
Further, it was revealed that the firms responsible for the design and engineering aspects of the project are China Architecture Design and Research Group Company Ltd. and CIECC Engineering Company Ltd, and this is their basic requirement to proceed with construction.
It is worth mentioning that the signing of the agreement was held on July 30, 2024. The deal states that after the signing, construction drawings will be prepared and will be delivered within eight weeks after the signing.
After receiving the teams will review them and ensure that everything meets the standards and expectations. Following the approvals the drawings will be used to invite bids from construction companies from China.
The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment noted that after all the process is complete after that the Barbadians can witness the construction activity at the site of National Stadium.
