More than half of a year has gone by since Chinese officials turned over the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium to their Bahamian counterparts. Seven months and some days have indeed passed since the high profile June 2011 ceremony.In this space for almost a year leading up to the turnover event, the government had been urged to be aware of connecting infrastructure time lines necessary to accommodate the pace of the Chinese workers. Needless to say, the attitude still remained almost nonchalant. Definitely, no apparent urgency was attached to the situation.

It became continually embarrassing. The promises continued though. I(and many others)hoped at least for the kind of focus that would have resulted within about three months of the turnover, in the basic infrastructure being put in place. The Christmas holiday season came and left, and the infrastructure work continued to be painfully slow. There were more hopes when the Youth, Sports and Culture Ministry began early in the year to prepare for the "official opening" of the stadium.

A date was earmarked. That date changed. Then, there was the announcement that February 11 would be the date. As time went on in January and the closing days of the first month of the year drew near, it became obvious that nothing would happen on February 11.

Now, I understand the date has shifted yet again, to March 19, or somewhere around there. It would be laughable if the situation did not have so much significance and "future meaning" to the national sports program in particular and the country in general.

What is it? How is it that Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Charles Maynard, with the help of his top level officers, can't get it right and present a realistic time line for the opening of the stadium to Cabinet?

The body of work stares right in the face, anyone observing the ongoing activities at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre where the national stadium is the anchor project. It had to be clear that work on inter-connecting roadways, the parking lot, the general landscaping, and the sewerage, remained off pace.

Yet the Youth, Sports and Culture Ministry gave the impression that everything was in order sufficiently for a"respectable"opening by the middle of this month. The government isn't looking good at all on this one. No matter how one tries to view the situation in a balanced way, it appears that the national stadium is yet another opening designed for political gain. That's the impression one could easily get.

There is also the question mark about the hundreds of thousands of dollars that will be necessary to come out of the pockets of taxpayers to cover the event. Is it worthwhile to push this event at this time?Is it really necessary?Should a huge amount of money be spent at this time?

Those are the questions the government will have to answer at some point. Without a doubt, this "national stadium opening" situation surely needs to be salvaged and cleaned up.

To respond to this column, kindly contact Fred Sturrup at fredericksturrup@gmail.com.

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