A shopper peruses necklaces made by Sheba Palmer (left) and Kim Wray (second right) during the fourth annual Portmore Craft and Culture Fest held at the Portmore Mall on November 26, 2005. - PHOTO BY ANTHONY MINOTT
A CRAFT VILLAGE is being considered for Bog Walk, St. Catherine, to capitalise on the staging of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007, says Social Development Commission (SDC) community development officer, Barrington Mighton.
The community is "ideally placed" to capitalise on the expected heavy traffic between Kingston and Trelawny, as persons travelled to the match venues, Mr. Mighton told a public meeting last Wednesday at the Bog Walk town square.
The island is expected to welcome a surge of visitors for the international event.
Mighton said the concept under review was to establish vending areas for fruit and craft and other businesses, according to a JIS report.
"The idea is to have buses or cars pull off the highway to a safe spot where they would buy from the vendors," he said, noting that, artisans would benefit from the effort.
FACELIFT NEEDED
However, Mr. Mighton said that before these activities could take place, Bog Walk would have to get a face-lift.
He said the Bog Walk Com-munity Development Committee would be discussing strategies on how to involve the residents in "brightening the face of the town".
"If we're going to be showcasing Bog Walk, then we need to get our communities ready because we are not just looking at the period of the World Cup matches, but at the possibility of them (visitors) coming back because they were impressed with the town," he said.
The community meeting is part of a series of sensitisation sessions on the event, organised by the Cricket World Cup 2007 Local Organisation Committee and the Jamaica Information Service.
Jamaica has been awarded the "yellow package" of the Cricket World Cup, which means the country will host warm-up matches, the opening ceremony and stage six first-round matches, as well as a semi-final match at Sabina Park in Kingston.
