18 years have passed

Dec 10, 2010 Sports

By Rawle Welch
Even after a profusion of enquiries which were quickly followed by a similar amount of pronouncements and aggressive responses from the National Sports Commission and the Ministry of Sport, the protracted absence of the National Sports Policy seems to indicate that the document is nowhere near completion and the earlier assurances were just the customary rhetoric that emanates from certain officials.
Minister of Sport Dr. Frank Anthony after disclosing in an exclusive interview that was published in the Stabroek Sport of June 7, 2010 that the National Sports Policy will represent a paradigm shift, no further information has been released since and the concern is that after 18 years of delay the National Sports Policy, a document to guide the way forward for the comprehensive development of Sport will not be tabled anytime soon in the National Assembly.
During the period, visits by Canadian DR. Colin Higgs, who is a Director at the International Development through Sports (IDS) and the person that was recruited by the Ministry of Sport to advise on the composition of the policy document, seems to have been done in vain, judging from the perceived absence of information from the relevant stakeholders.
Labeled as one of the most central features in a country, Sport is as important as crime, education, the economy, health, environment, food security and a water policy and according to one influential Caribbean figure for it to make a positive social and economic difference, the implementation of a National Sport Policy is as important as any other issue in a country.
He added that when national issues such as crime, health, social cohesion and diversifying the economy are being talked about, the role of Sport must be part of the solutions, ideas and perspectives to help eliminate or reduce negative social actions.
This newspaper has repeatedly questioned the absence of such an essential policy, but the usual response from those directly related to the issue has always been a rehearsal of what was announced previously. There have been so many shifts in the deadlines for tabling the document in Parliament and even the completion of discussions among the related stakeholders that it has become difficult to understand what level of progress has been made to date.
On April 24, 2010 Director of Sport Neil Kumar in response to an article in this newspaper that asked the whereabouts of the ‘National Sports Policy’ disclosed that Minister Anthony has started the process of seeking to construct one two years ago (2008) when he convened a meeting with all Sports Association and other interested parties. According to Kumar, that meeting at the Cliff Anderson Sport Hall resulted in the establishment of three committees after the Minister had outlined the need for a National Sports Policy and after one year of intensive consultations and contributions the Draft Document presented did not satisfy the Minister as being the most comprehensive Plan that it should have been.
“Many aspects of a modern sports policy were missing including, for example, the issue of anti doping procedures and protocols.”
That first review resulted in the Ministry approaching the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for funding and other forms of assistance to develop an improved Plan.
Kumar informed that Higgs returned and held consultations with the country’s Sports associations once again and officials from the Ministries of Education, Health and Amerindian Affairs reviewed and upgraded the existing Draft document and using a most scientific Canadian model used internationally, presented to Dr. Anthony a “Proposal for A SPORTS PLAN FOR THE CO-OPERATIVE REPUBLIC OF GUYANA. “This Sports Policy and Plan is underpinned by a scientific formula which envisages lifelong participation under “THE GUYANA LONG TERM ATHLETE/PARTICIPANT MODEL. All the earlier recommendations from Guyana’s Sports Associations and other key stake holders in Sport are accommodated in this new plan/policy.
The pillars of the Guyana Policy will rest on the school system, sports associations clubs and community programmes, among other core elements” Kumar added.
It has now been six months since anything tangible has been released by either the Director or the Minister pertaining to the document so what should Guyanese conclude by their obvious silence.
Is it a true reflection of their seriousness or lack thereof? The Minister should make a concerted attempt to address this outstanding issue with the nation once and for all.
We await an early response.

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