The Chinese construction workers in Grenada have been instructed to stop painting the national sporting stadium at Queen's Park, on the outskirts of St. George's.
This was confirmed to GRENADA TODAY by Troy Garvey, the Public Relations committee member of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
He made the announcement against the backdrop of widespread reports in the country that Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell and his governing New National Party (NNP) have become angry over the use of a colour by the Chinese that closely resembles its arch political rival, the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
In recent days, a number of persons on the island have been heard to make the comment that the Chinese are building a stadium for the Congress party.
The NDC is known to have cultivated close relations with Beijing prior to the decision just over a year ago by Prime Minister Mitchell to severe ties with Taiwan and re-establish diplomatic relations with Mainland China.
During the 2003 general elections, the Mitchell government had accused the NDC of financing their campaign from dollars given to them by the communists Chinese on the mainland.
Garvey denied that the Grenadian leader had issued the crucial instructions for the Chinese to halt the painting work on the stadium.
He said it was a member of the LOC that had brought to the attention of the body that the colour scheme being used by the Chinese was different from the original artistic impression of what the stadium would look like on completion.
He said that the LOC had been going around the country informing Grenadians that the colour seen in the artistic impression of the stadium was the exact one that would be used to give the project its finished look.
He said that there has been no change to this position and attempts would be made to have the problem corrected.
In an effort to do some "damage control" in light of the furore over the issue, Garvey indicated that the paint used by the Chinese on the stadium was merely "the primer" and not the finished product.
However, several knowledgeable person have said that the Chinese had already put white primer on the building and was now putting on the final colour when the orders were given to stop the work.
Garvey did not identify the specific color of paint that had to be used to give the final coating but the colour that is contained in the artistic impression closely resembles yellow.
He insisted that the stadium would have to be painted in the original colour but could not give details on who would be footing the bill for this additional expense.
According to the LOC official that decision would be resolved at a meeting between all the concerned parties including the Chinese that was planned for Tuesday.
Informed sources told GRENADA TODAY that nearly two-thirds of the stadium was already painted when orders were given to the Chinese to put a stop to the painting job on the facility.
 |
| Artistic impresson of Stadium |
Garvey disclosed that local firm, Sissons Paints (G'da) Ltd was contracted to provide all the paint for the stadium as part of a deliberate policy to engage as much local concerns in the rebuilding of the multi million dollar facility.
Sissons had reportedly submitted several different samples to the Chinese who then made the final selection of the one that would be used to paint the sporting facility.
There are unconfirmed reports that quarter-of-a-million dollars would be needed to do the repainting of the stadium.
Beijing decided to rebuilt the stadium for Grenada after it was ravaged by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004.
The Mitchell government did not insure the stadium and failed to get any financial compensation for the massive destruction at the premier sporting facility which had been showing signs of massive cracks on its wall structure.
The original stadium was built for the Mitchell government by Colm Imbert, the current Communication & Works Minister in the Patrick Manning administration in Trinidad and Tobago.
