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Representatives from each of the participating countries are here today to do a pre- inspection visit of the proposed facilities for the competitions. Today the Belize CODICADER committee held a press briefing inside the VIP lounge at the International Airport where they officially welcomed the visiting delegates from 5 of the participating countries.

Hon. Elodio Aragon, Min. of State, Youth and Sports
"Today I extend a warm welcome to the CODICADER Assessment team. This team is comprised of 2 representatives from each participating country; Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras. This team is here to assess Belize's readiness for hosting the upcoming under 13 CODICADER Games."

Roxana Calderon, Tech. Sec., CODICADER, El Salvador
"Well first of all in the area of sports, we have to make sure that the facilities comply with the minimum requirements for international competitions, that the measurements of the fields are in accordance with the national and international regulations of CODICADER. We need to make sure that the accommodations for the kids are secure and that there is a lot of security because right now security in Central America is a very delicate topic. We also need to make sure that the immigration process does not make it so difficult to bring in so many under-age children. We need to make sure that there are hospitals available, so its thinks like this that the delegations worry about when they are brining that amount of children on our behalf."

Hon. Elodio Aragon, Min. of State, Youth and Sports
"Well I think that we are well prepared, I think the government has invested a lot in sporting facilities. I think all our sporting facilities, the ones in Belize City, in the Cayo districts namely Belmopan and San Ignacio, those are up to scratch. I think we won't have any problems there. The complex that will be used in Orange Walk, that needs a little work, not that much. We have already secured funding to give towards that support to ensure we get that facility up and running to the standards we believe is necessary. Apart from that I think we are good to go. The organization, the committee that we have formed in terms of the different ministries and the different people that we need to ensure that we want to be able to raise the resources, to enable, to coordinate and the logistical expectation that we need to do for these games, I think all of that is in order. We are looking forward to a very successful CODICADER games here between July 8th - 11th. We think that that will be a grand success for us."

Tomorrow the delegation will visit the Facilities in Orange Walk and Belize City, and on Sunday they head on over to the proposed facilities in Belmopan and San Ignacio. The visitors head back to their respective countries on Monday where they will submit a report to the head office of CODICADER as well as their local CODICADER committees.