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- Youths locked out of Wales Community Centre ground after asking Team Mohamed to help fix a section
Youths locked out of Wales Community Centre ground after asking Team Mohamed to help fix a section
Kaieteur News- A coach and his squad of U-13 footballers were locked out of their own Community Centre Ground at Wales, West Bank Demerara (WBD) after they took businessman Azruddin Mohamed there on Thursday.
Mohamed had pledged to assist the coach, Kelvin Roberts and the youth squad with some gears and equipment during an outreach in the area that afternoon. He had planned to make the donation there.
U-13 footballers, Azzrudin Mohamed and community members standing outside the Wales Community Centre Ground.
However, Kaieteur News learnt that the coach and the players were the ones who wanted the businessman to visit the ground.
Speaking with Kaieteur News on Saturday, Coach Roberts said that ground is not in a suitable condition to play football or cricket and they wanted the businessman’s help to fix a small all-purpose playing area at the facility until government completes its rehabilitation.
He clarified that there was no political agenda behind taking the businessman to the ground.
“Which-in before he (Mohamed) go there he explain to me he don’t want to get into the sports minister thing but I tell there is a piece there that could do all purpose court for we,” the coach said before adding, “That is what I was taking him to see”.
Unfortunately, when they arrived at the community centre the gate was chained and padlocked. The security guard even refused to open the gate disclosing that he was instructed to keep it locked.
The coach said he later understood that one of the grounds-men had given the instructions. He said too that it is first time he experienced that as the gate is always open until 19:00h.
“Sometime the gate does just chain and hook and anyone can go in but this time it pad-locked’, he explained.
Asked about the arrived, Roberts said they arrived at the facility close to 18:30 hours.
The coach said that it is not the first time he requested help to make the community ground suitable for the youths of his community.
Coach Roberts disclosed that he had first approached Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Charles Ramson, before Local Government Elections. The minister reportedly promised to look into the situation but to date the facility is still not suitable for playing.
The coach explained that mud was thrown on the ground making it difficult for the youth to play football or use the ground.
Coach Kelvin Roberts
Further, the football coach said he approached President Irfaan Ali about the state of the community ground when he visited the Track and Field Centre at Leonora, West Coast Demerara (WCD). He said promises were also made there but to date, nothing has been done.
Roberts told Kaieteur News that he is not complaining or trying to rush the government into action as he is aware that there may be plans to rehabilitate the facility. He explained that he wanted Team Mohamed to fix an area of the ground until works on the ground is finished.
Meanwhile, Mohamed told Kaieteur News that he views the locking of the community centre’s gate as “politically motivated” and advised that “politics must not be mixed with youth development.
(Youths locked out of Wales Community Centre ground after asking Team Mohamed to help fix a section)
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