Upgrading of sporting facilities underway at National Park - Fernandes

Upgrading of sporting facilities underway at National Park – Fernandes

Aug 23, 2013 Sports

By Zaheer Mohamed
Suitable facilities are required to enhance the talent of athletes. The National Park facilitates the training of sportspersons from various disciplines. Yesterday the Commissioner of the Protected Areas Commission (PAC), Damian Fernandes, told Kaieteur Sport that they have commenced work to upgrade the facilities at the Park.

One of the fields at the National Park on which work has commenced.

Fernandes said that they had started to cut the playing fields but had to stop for a while because the land was soft due to the rain. “The fields are low and would take a long time to dry which would delay the cutting, so we have to wait until the soil is dry because the tractor which we use can cause damage to the land”, added Fernandes.
He informed that work has already commenced on the Athletics track, but they are awaiting word from the Rugby Association as to when to cut the Rugby field. Fernandes said that the football area is the lowest and they would have to wait a bit longer to cut it. He indicated that the area where the Long Jump pit is situated is low, but that will be looked at when they are upgrading the land.
Fernandes stated that they are working hand in hand with the National Parks Commission to improve the facilities and they have recently obtained assistance from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to raise the level of the playing areas which would cause it to dry faster and would prevent flooding. “This project will cost a lot so we have to take one field at a time and we want to start with the Athletics track. We are also planning to meet with the people who use the park to come up with plans to move forward, additionally we are willing to accept assistance from the business community, preferably sand and dirt”, he stated.

One of the guard huts.

Fernandes pointed out that the main canal was excavated to facilitate better drainage, but they would have to backfill the revetment which is very costly. “We want to move away from using the wooden materials which would decay after a while and utilize PVC which will last longer so instead of us having to use our resources in that area frequently we can look at other areas”, he argued.
He informed that lights have been installed around the park and they are working to employ more security guards so that people can use the park in the evening. “The lights were installed early in 2013, but it may not be safe to allow people to use the facilities in the evening since we do not have enough guards, but we are moving in that direction so that we can open the park for longer periods. We have finished constructing the guard huts and plan to install cameras around the track are in the making” stated Fernandes.
When quizzed about the park being made available to cyclists who trains on the road, Fernandes said that they are willing to accommodate them. “We are willing to meet with the cyclists and come up with a plan regarding their training schedule’, he said.