China completes construction of scoreboards valued at BDS 3.38 Million for Garfield Sobers Gymnasium in Barbados

On June 13, 2011, officials from Barbados and China (Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and Premier Wen Jiabao respectively) signed an Exchange of Letters in which China pledged to help install new electronic scoreboards in the Garfield Sobers Complex (also referred to as the Wildey Gym). On September 6, 2011, financing was acquired for the project from China, a grant of BDS $3.38 million (about $1.69 USD). Construction conducted by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) began August 15, 2011 and ended September 12, 2011, with construction quality certified on September 19 and the official handover certificate for the updated scoreboards signed on October 4, 2011. The project, in addition to replacing the current scoreboard display screen and equipment in the control room, included the installation of additional air coolers, repairing the ceiling, developing a maintenance plan, providing the necessary spare parts, and providing training for two Barbadian technicians.

Additional details

Barbados was not ODA-eligible in 2011. This project should not be confused with the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium reconstruction project (#55324), which occurred in 2016-2017. Reports about the funding acquired in September 2011 only report aggregate amounts with other projects simultaneously funded, but final reports give the cost of the scoreboards as BDS $3.38 million, which has been recorded as the transaction amount. One official source, "Barbados and China to Sign Loan Agreements," does refer to the September 6th funding as loans, but other official sources from the Government of Barbados which more explicitly discuss the scoreboard project describe the funding mechanism as a grant and thus have been used (see "Gymnasium Has Two New Scoreboards"). The same sources conflict on the number of scoreboards constructed, four or two, with headlines not matching body of text.

Number of official sources

8

Number of total sources

12