Lautoka is ready to host its first Pacific Nations Cup this weekend.

Lautoka City Council (LCC) head of services, Deepak Lal said all maintenance works done at the Churchill Park were expected to be completed to­morrow.

Lal said five LCC workers were getting the ground, pavillions, change rooms, showers and all other fa- cilities ready for Sat­urday.

He said no major work needed to be carried out as it had been done during the Super Rugby Pacific Match in May.

“We are just touching up on other things which need to be maintained,” said Lal.

“Basically the main one for us is the grounds and since the Super Rugby Pacific match, we have been maintaining the ground at that level meaning we have been cutting the grass, putting the appropriate nutri­ents level and our sprinklers on.

“The challenge that we have at the moment is the dry weather and because of this we have to water the ground three times a day, normally we do it once or twice a day.”

He said the Super Rugby Pa­cific match built the foundation for a lot of people, creating the excitement for future interna­tional sporting tournaments.

Mr Lal said the council re­ceived more than 40 enquiries so far on the food stalls.

“The excitement is building slowly, it is just so nice to see our people happy,” he added.

He said the council expected between 9000 to 10,000 people to be at the rugby matches this weekend including next week­end.

He added that the council was still in discussions to work on increasing the seating capacity at the Churchill Park.

Meanwhile, LCC acting park headman, Salesh Prasad, 43, said with this work, he always ensured that his responsibili­ties were fulfilled and all areas were looked after.

Samoa will take on Tonga on Saturday at 12pm while the Vodafone Flying Fijians take on Australia A at 3.30pm.

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