$500M in community ground development

−674 community grounds benefitted from upgrades

−48 community grounds commissioned this year

−22 more to be opened before year end

DPI, Guyana, Friday, December 6, 2019

For the last four years, 674 community grounds across the country have been rehabilitated under the Department of Sport’s ground enhancement project costing $500Million.

Speaking to DPI today, Director of Sport Christopher Jones for 2019 the department has commissioned 48 grounds with an expected 22 to be commissioned before year-end.

Minister of Social Cohesion Hon. Dr. George Norton and his team visiting the Cane Grove Community Ground, earlier this year.

Director of Sport Christopher Jones

After the commissioning of the lights at Central Mahaicony Community Centre Ground last month of this year

While the initial goal was to upgrade the grounds and provide the necessary facilities for local athletes to hone their talent, Jones remarked that there was a noticeable increase in the establishment of sports clubs.

“This is in keeping with the mandate of the National Sports Commission’s Act which speaks to creating an enabling environment for the advancement of sports and there are spin-off benefits to that,” the Sports Director noted.

According to Jones, when the Coalition Government entered office in 2015 while the project existed there was no tangible evidence of monies having been spent to develop community grounds across the country.

“What we did differently is coordinate the disbursement of those monies with the NDCs and RDCS…we started the disbursement but with the view that we were not only doing a fence or so forth but the complete ground…so you saw areas where the fencing was done, rehabilitation to the play space and the installation of lights,” he added.

The Sports Director said that this approach has resulted in many positive spin-offs and it would remiss of the government to stop there but will continue with an intense focus for the benefit of residents and athletes alike.

Aside from this, moving forward, the department is also looking to purchase more energy-saving lamps for its’ Light it up’ campaign. “Recognising that Guyana is going green and that many parts have already gone green, we are trying to source cheap energy-saving lights that would have sufficient illumination to light the grounds,” he explained. Adding that once the department has secured such, steps will be made to install the lights at all of the community grounds.