The Football Federation of Belize and the Canchas Deportivas de Centroamerica from El Savador signed a contract for the improvement of the lighting facilities at the FFB Stadium in Belmopan. According to the President of the FFB, Ruperto Vicente, the project is being financed by FIFA at a sum of two hundred and ninety eight thousand US dollars. Signing on behalf of the Canchas Deportivas de Centroamerica was its Executive Director, Juan Carlos Sanchez who spoke to Love News about the project.
JUAN CARLOS SANCHEZ
“Well basically we’re going to be installing the most modern lighting system today, MUSCO Lighting; it’s the same lighting system that is installed in many of the most prestigious venues in the world including the Olympics for the past four consecutive times. So, we’re very excited about contributing to Belize Football Federation and the people of Belize with a very high quality system and most importantly, it’s a very cost saving system because we can save about 40% on energy bill versus conventional lighting systems. MUSCO Lighting System has a warranty for ten years which is more than the average; in the industry, two years is the standard in lightning systems and in the United States, the warranty can be extended to 25 years; so, basically that is a signal of the quality of the lighting system. The lighting system is a metal high light, 1500 watt fixture but it has a visor that allows it to redirect light to the field which is normally lost; about 40% of the light that a fixture produces is normally lost, so, with this technology and the visors we are redirecting the light on the field and basically using 40% less fixtures than traditional systems. So, with 120 light fixtures we’re producing the same amount of light that would be needed with 160 – 180 conventional fixtures.”
According to Vicente, as per FIFA’s requirement’s solicitation for company to bid for the contract was circulated both locally and internationally. Vicente says that the project is scheduled to be completed in the next ninety days in hopes that it will be done by the end of October when Belize is set to host the U-16 Central America tournament.
RUPERTO VICENTE
“The company that’s going to install the lighting will also train individuals in Belize to manage the system for us; it’s going to be a modern system, so, we definitely need someone trained to take care of it. So, it’s not going to be an ordinary person; I am not an electrician, so, I would not be able to take care of it, therefore we need to have someone who is capable enough to take care and manage the facility for us.”
HIPOLITO NOVELO
“Some people would say that Belizeans get good things but we don’t know how to take care of it and probably by next year it will be destroyed.”
RUPERTO VICENTE
“Well certainly that is a true statement but we also need to recognize that this is a new federation; we are responsible individuals and we seek to manage and protect what have been entrusted to us; that’s our responsibility and it’s going to be important for the nation to understand that while we will have this expensive facility, we’ll have to pay for it and whoever has to use this facility will have to understand they will have to pay a cost for this facility.”
Vicente also shared that in the next two weeks, contracts will be signed for the improvements of the football pitch.