Latest update January 20th, 2025 4:00 AM
Logistics worked in Leonora’s favour
Phase I of the Synthetic Track and Field Facility, which among the construction of the access road, drainage and irrigation, also include preparing the ground for the actual laying of the track as seen in this Franklin Wilson photo.
By Edison Jefford
As would any spectacular phenomena in sports, Guyana’s first Synthetic Track and Field Facility created quite a stir among local enthusiasts and the media. The debates went back and forth on an equilibrium that more than anything, questioned its location.
The mediatory factor on the issue among laymen was the belief that the location of the facility on the West Coast of Demerara does not matter as much as the fact that Guyana is finally getting the kind of infrastructure to positively influence top performances.
True! But such an important chapter in the history of local track and field demands more thought than just satisfying an urgent need to have modern sport facilities. If one is to believe Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, then the conclusion would be that their homework was pristine and Leonora was the best location of those considered.
“I am convinced that the location was the best choice; we’d considered about nine locations,” he said when Kaieteur Sport asked him at a media conference on Friday if enough feasibility studies were completed to make a final decision on the Leonora location.
Anthony did not disclose the locations that were competing to house the facility, but there were lots of rumours and debates when the facility first surfaced in the 2009 budget. Durban Park along the Homestretch Avenue corridor, the National Park, the National Stadium, Uitvlugt Ground and the Georgetown Cricket Club and Georgetown Football Club merger were all grassroots mulling as potential sites for the modern Synthetic Track and Field Facility.
“We were looking for space to build stands, parking and an alternative area to build the warm-up track in the future. Given all those pre-requisites, the venues that were looked at, would not have met those conditions,” the minister continued on the same question.
The track and field facility will be constructed on a 45-acre plot of land that used to be a Leonora Cricket Ground. Courtney Benn Contracting Services Limited was awarded the $125M for Phase I while BSW Regupol received a $93M contract for Phase II of the project. Anthony said that the logistics of Leonora more favoured the facility that is currently being built.
“The time to get to and fro the facility would not be a problem. Athletes will have to figure out a way to get there train. We are not too concerned about that,” Anthony continued in his responses to the question that also had a part on the issue of opening, and closing, of the Demerara Harbour Bridge, which downs accessibility to West Demerara for hours sometimes.
The minister said that the track will only occupy about 25-acre of the 45-acre land and therefore there is a perfect opportunity for the Private Sector to develop housing around the facility so that athletes can be accommodated. “Maybe, the (AAG) Athletic Association of Guyana may consider that as well,” he said, adding, that it is not his ministry’s intention to monopolise the possibilities for commerce that the new facility will generate when completed.
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