Oistins Gears Up for ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup with Extensive Upgrades and Enhanced Facilities

Anticipation is building in Oistins as preparations for the ICC’s Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup enter their final stretch. Food vendors, fisherfolk and townsfolk told Barbados TODAY they are eagerly awaiting the tournament’s opening here on Sunday night.

On Monday, leaders of two major Oistins organisations reported widespread enthusiasm as the community gears up to host fans, expecting an influx of visitors to the rejuvenated hub.

“The vendors are entirely happy, not only the ones from Bay Garden but the ones over by Granny’s car park. The domino players, the people in the fish market, the vegetable sellers, everybody is pleased with the work,” said Kemar Harris, president of the Oistins Bay Garden Committee. “At first people had doubts and scepticism about the work but to see that it has happened everybody is applauding, everybody has gratitude, everybody is feeling good; it’s beyond excitement.”

Harris added that the upgrades, costing close to $5 million, would elevate Oistins’ ranking as a top tourist attraction in Barbados. “It is recorded that Oistins is second on the list of places of interest in Barbados as it relates to tourism but I think that after these upgrades it will become number one,” he said.

Improvements include better lighting, a repaved parking lot, improved drainage, an enhanced stage area, beach beautification, new bathroom facilities, a refurbished 32-shop Bay Garden village with repainted stores and new seating tents. The adjacent Berinda Cox Fish Market received upgraded parking facilities, while fruit vendors near the market were provided special sheltered zones. New fencing has also boosted security.

“On behalf of all the people from Oistins we thank government for this enhancement initiative because it’s about the prosperity of this space,” Harris said. “I do not look at this only in light of World Cup; the painting cannot rub off after World Cup, infrastructure work cannot rub off after World Cup, the car park cannot rub off after World Cup or the lighting. As we come out of June we go into Crop Over and these upgrades will complement the small businesses in the area and make them more appealing.”

Harris said 95 per cent of the work was complete, with rainy weather over the past few days causing a brief delay. The launch of the new facilities is for Sunday when Namibia and Oman will play in Kensington Oval’s first match of the tournament.

Natasha Clarke, president of the Oistins Fisher Folk Forward Association, said there would be “plenty of fish in abundance” during the World Cup, anticipating increased sales. “We are excited because there were upgrades to the market and we expect more sales especially from the restaurants and hotel, so that is a plus for us,” she said, adding that currently the market had an abundance of catches.

Clarke provided a breakdown of prices: ready-boned flying fish sold at $35 per 10-fish pack, marlin at $11 per pound, billfish at $9.50 per pound, and pot fish at $50 per five-pound pack. An influx of amberfish was available at $6 per pound.

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb