Government considering modern sports facilities in Linden, Essequibo, Berbice

Jun 17, 2016 Sports

By Edison Jefford

The Government of Guyana is considering the construction of modern multi-purpose sports facilities

Christopher Jones – Director of Sports

in Linden, Essequibo and Berbice. This is according to Director of Sports, Christopher Jones, who made the disclosure on a television programme on the National Communications Network (NCN) Wednesday night.
Speaking on Edwin Seeraj’s Sports Magazine, Jones disclosed that the Mexican Government has indicated its willingness to fund the construction of such facilities with the aforementioned being earmarked as the possible locations for them.
According to Jones, the paperwork to finalise the deal is between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Pressed for a timeline on works to commence, and the deal between the two countries to be finalised, Jones declined further comment.
However, the Director of Sports said that he recognised that the majority of athletes would come out of the named areas hence the need for facilities in those regions. He indicated that athletes in Georgetown are accessing the facility at Leonora.
Seeraj asked Jones to comment on the location of the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora, and he said that when he was Shadow Minister of Sport in Parliament while in opposition, it was something he questioned extensively with no success.
He informed that the aim now is to develop other such facilities across Guyana, and as such apart from the joint initiative between the Mexican and Guyana Governments, a Ground Enhancement Project is on stream to engineer the development of grounds.
Jones said that he recognised that $1M was too small an amount to adequately address overall development of grounds; hence he has recommended that the amount be raised to $10M to really be effective. This process has commenced he noted.
According to Jones, who took over as Director of Sports just over a year ago, one of the primary focuses on grounds is to upgrade the lights so that athletes can have more training time. He said that lights at grounds are almost a mandatory prerequisite for the grant.
In outlining Government’s priority for the development of sports, he indicated that the facilities, National Sports Policy, a national data base and records of athletes and sports within the schools’ curriculum are high on the agenda to move sports forward in a substantive way.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News