ICC WORLD T20
BCB out to save Sylhet
The Bangladesh Cricket Board expressed its satisfaction over the progress of development work at the Sylhet Divisional Stadium, a designated venue for the ICC World Twenty20 2014.
The stadium received worldwide attention after the International Cricket Council recently said it was concerned about the venue and will consider scrapping it from their plan if the works are not completed by July.
The fate of the venue now hinges on the report of the ICC inspection team, which will visit the venue again on August 7.
The government, the BCB, the National Sports Council and the local organisers moved quickly to meet the ICC deadline and as part of their new-found energy a high-level delegation, led by finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, visited the venue on Monday.
The state minister for youth and sports, Ahad Ali Sarkar, BCB president Nazmul Hasan and top BCB and NSC officials accompanied the finance minister during the visit in his home city.
The Tk 87 crore development works, which engaged about 400 workers, began in May, but BCB president Nazmul said it was already late.
‘We needed this money at least four months earlier,’ Nazmul told reporters in Sylhet. ‘Some bureaucratic problem caused the delay otherwise we would have been ahead of schedule.
‘However, we are yet to give up hope. We expect to complete some necessary works before the ICC inspection team arrives on August 7.’
The BCB president said the main concern is the grandstand and installation of floodlights, which may not be completed within August.
‘Hopefully we can finish half of the grandstand before the ICC inspection. The rest of the works will be completed later. We are now considering bringing the floodlights from another stadium as an interim arrangement,’ he said.
Local organisers said a vast amount of land needs to be acquired to create a pathway into the stadium and they were assured by the finance minister about it.
‘It was an ordinary stadium and we are now trying to turn it into an international venue. If everybody works sincerely I am confident we can complete the job.’ Muhith told reporters.
-With New Age input
