And he conceded that the plans had been marking time for ages.

While football and athletics fans enjoy a nice stadium and cricket and rugby share the North field, little has been said for years on when the middle section of the Frog Lane complex will be finished for other sports.

The plans for the centre core involves:

*an international standards pool

*a children's water centre

*a triple gym which can double as a convention centre

*dressing rooms for football and cricket teams

*a reception centre with a hall of fame

*a cardio-vascular centre

*a meeting room

*a dorm for 50 people

*dining and lounge facilities

*a press centre.

But Dr. Bean said while the trustees were still keen to complete the project, commitment higher up was less solid.

He said: "At this point in time we are not likely to get any new initiatives regarding the NSC because of the possibility of an election.

"I think from that point of view the shortest possible answer is ¿ we are marking time. I don't think we are going to get any significant decisions in this period.

The public will realize there are many major projects in the pipeline and this is one of them."

Dr. Bean has been involved with the board since it was established 14 years ago.

"We are in constant contact with Government. We are doing as much as we can. We are in contact with the minister."

Each sports minister supported the project but the difficulty was getting Cabinet to make it a priority said Dr. Bean who added that the only stumbling block was funding.

But he refused to put even a general figure on the work.

"Whenever a project of this magnitude is not done, the price tag goes up."

He said at one point the word 'sport' had been taken out of name but a change to the National Centre would have required an act of parliament.

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