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The St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Football Federation (SVGFF) and a local company
called NTech signed a contract valued at approximately EC$750.000.00 to light the Brighton.
Playing Field during a ceremony held at the Brighton Technical Centre on Monday, October 9th
2023.
President of the SVGFF, Carl Dickson in his remarks, at the ceremony, said lighting of the
Brighton facility is being funded by the international governing body for football, FIFA, through
its philanthropic arm, the FIFA Foundation. Dickson also indicated that representatives from
FIFA are scheduled to visit SVG, on completion of the historic project, to witness the official
turning on of the lights at Brighton.
Project Consultant at the SVGFF, Fidel Neverson said the construction phase of the project is
expected to last six (6) months. According to Neverson, energy efficient LED lights would be
installed on four poles standing at 22 meters or 72 ft. high with seven (7) light fixtures on each
pole. Davon Cato, Owner/Manager of NTech says three companies have joined forces to execute
the contract initiative contact. The other two are Cato’s Heavy Equipment Rentals and Unique
Alliance.
Minister with responsibility for sport, the Hon. Frederick Stevenson also witnessed the contract
signing. He said the installation of flood lights at the Brighton Playing Field would allow more
athletes to compete in late evening matches, and ultimately attract more patrons to view the
games.
Stevenson said government has extended the lease of the Brighton Playing Field, to the SVGFF,
for another 25 years, while noting that the facility is one of the most used fields in the country.
He said the East St. George representative; Hon. Camillo Gonsalves, ensured that the revised
lease agreement took into consideration the need for community access to the facility. The Sport
minister also alluded to the planned upgrade and lighting of the Arnos Vale Sports Complex and
the Cumberland Playing field while commenting on SVG’s preparation to co-host the 2024
men’s T20 Cricket World Cup.
Meanwhile, government Senator, Hon. Ashelle Morgan addressed the contract signing ceremony
on behalf of Parliamentary Representative for East St. George, the Hon. Camillo Gonsalves, who
is out of state on official duties. Morgan welcomed the contract to light the facility in her
community. She also commended the government and the SVGFF for the work done to upgrade
the property, thus making it more suitable for sporting activities.
In late 2022 the SVGFF secured USD$400,000.00 in funding through the FIFA Foundation
Recovery Programme to finance the upgrade of the federation’s Technical Centre at Brighton.
The installation of lights at the Brighton facility was also included in the project as part of efforts
to revitalize the sport locally, following the devastative impact of the April, 2021 eruptions of the
La Soufriere volcano.
1 Comment
This contract seems excessive just for the lighting. The value of tbis contract should have lighted at least 3 playing fields 250K each is more than reasonable.
Purchasing, shipping, local transport, local installatuon and lqbour is NOt 750K.
Are they also repaving the surface?