India to help Jamaica install lights at Sabina Park

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC- Jamaica and India are to sign off on an agreement to have flood lights installed at Sabina Park, The Jamaica Observer has reported.

The news comes after months of discussion between several government ministries and entities and officials from the Indian High Commission, the paper said.

The Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA) president Wilford Heaven declined to provide details, but has confirmed that an announcement regarding the lights implementation will be on Tuesday at the venue.

Indian High Commissioner Pratap Singh and Jamaica’s Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller are expected to be in attendance.

The lack of lights at Sabina Park, one of the Caribbean’s leading cricket venues, has been a controversial issue since the failure to put in the infrastructure for the region’s hosting of the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

The matter was brought into sharp focus during the inaugural Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Twenty20 (T20) competition in 2013.

Ahead of that tournament, the then JCA administration announced that Sabina Park Holdings, the entity which manages the venue and its facilities, had a partnership with a financier and contractor for the project.

However, three weeks later, the deal collapsed after a breakdown in talks between Sabina Park Holdings, its affiliates and the would-be contractor.