International Cricket Council (ICC) and local organisers have just completed a crucial 'make-or-break' spin through the region to examine the stadia and assess the readiness of the nine countries hosting the matches.

All have been given the green light, with minor concerns about timelines for completion of some parts of the infra-structure.

Chris Dehring, managing director of CWC 2007, and Don Lockerbie, the event's venue development director, have constantly reminded officials in the nine host venue territories that time is of the essence.

They also reminded them that failure is not an option, and if one territory "messes up", then the whole Caribbean has "messed up", and they have kept officials on their toes with the threat of matches being switched to another venue.

In Barbados, where the final will be contested on April 28, the government is spending 67.5 million dollars on upgrading the famous Kensington Oval.

This does not cover major improvements to the island's airport, roads, medical, and other ancillary facilities.

This sort of development is taking place in all, if not most of the nine host territories which also include Antigua, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Trinidad.

In Antigua, they have built a completely new stadium with the help of the Chinese government which will carry the name of the island's most famous son of the soil, Sir Vivian Richards, the former West Indies batting legend of the 1970s and 1980s.

The Chinese have also helped Grenada which was ravaged by two major hurricanes in the last five years to reconstruct the Queen's Park Stadium.

Guyana has leaned on the Indian government for help to construct the new Providence Stadium to replace the Bourda Oval sward which was outdated and flooded every time it clouded over the capital of Georgetown.

Jamaica and Trinidad too, the most populous of the English-speaking Caribbean nations, as well as St. Vincent have followed Barbados and have also made improvements to the long-serving Sabina Park, Queen Park Oval, and Arnos Vale respectively.

St. Lucia opened the Beausejour Stadium four years ago and have hosted Tests and one-day internationals, while St. Kitts inaugurated the new Warner Park earlier this year when India visited the Caribbean.

In all, airports, roads, medical and other ancillary facilities have all been spruced up to meet the challenge of hosting the 100,000 visitors which organisers estimate will come for the event.

Detractors have argued whether it was necessary to spend so heavily on the event, but Dehring has constantly indicated that some of the development was necessary, and had been fast-tracked by eager governments looking to put on a good show for the World.

Security, a major, major concern in an era of terrorist plots and threats, has also received extensive attention.

The United States and Britain, both long-time allies of the region, as well as South Africa, host of the 2003 tournament, have all offered technical and financial assistance to the Caribbean nations.

Police officers and military personnel have undergone extensive counter-terrorism measures, and they will also receive human resource support from the United States, Britain, and South Africa.

All of the territories have signed into law Sunset Legislation with hefty fines for security breaches at grounds, but it also covers the host nations sharing immigration information, and offering one entry visa for travellers for the period of the World Cup.

But it has not all been smooth sailing.

There are still some unanswered questions about accommodation, and the fickle intra-regional travel service which the venue inspection team experienced for themselves on a recent trip from Guyana to Grenada.

Several pieces of luggage were left behind, and it prompted a stern reprimand from Dehring to operators of regional airlines.

There may be more concerns about airline travel for Dehring and his team of planners in the New Year, when all four of the major regional air carriers -- BWIA, LIAT, Caribbean Star, and Air Jamaica -- will undergo either significant restructuring programmes, or mergers.

The other critical area of operations which officials have not addressed with any confidence is accommodation.

Major hotels have charged mega-bucks for premium rooms, much to anger of organisers, and Dehring has expressed concern that this may drive away some of the extra-regional visitors that had planned to come for the event.

To combat the problem, local organisers have pursued a 'bed and breakfast' programme as well as calling in cruise ships.

Ticketing officials have recorded 55 per cent sales of seats for the matches, with the final in Barbados, all but sold out.

Prices in some cases remain out of reach for the average Caribbean citizen, with a premium seat for the final costing 300 dollars, six times the price for a similar seat at the Wanderers in Johannesburg four years ago.