Gov’t spent close to $1B on Sports development
The government, through the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport has spent close to $1 billion on sports development across the country.
This is according to Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Charles Ramson Jr, who was speaking during an outreach at the Port Mourant Sports Club, Corentyne Berbice on Saturday.
The Minister noted that during the time when the previous administration was in government, nothing was being done to strongly develop sports in the region.
“Because of the under-investment and the lack of investment and the decisions that were destructive for this region, we saw systematic destruction happening in this entire region,” the minister stressed.
However, this destruction swiftly changed to advanced development when the PPP\C government took back office in the latter part of 2019.
According to the minister, upon his first visit to the region, he saw the potential of the young people and so he made it his ministry’s duty to work aggressively to develop the various playgrounds.
“Since this government came into power since His Excellency Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali has led the Peoples Progressive Party government…the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports has spent close to $1 billion from our programme in sport alone,” the minister revealed.
Meanwhile, alluding to the track and field stadium which is currently being built at New Amsterdam, the minister said that it will also consist of a state-of-the-art pavilion which will be built with glass and entails excellent seating.
He noted that $150 million is currently being spent to construct that pavilion.
Additionally, the minister said that the government has spent over $1 million euros on the synthetic material for both the New Amsterdam and the Linden/MacKenzie tracks.
“Over the period of time, we have started to invest and we have seen how important it is to make the investment in community grounds so that young people can have a safe space to play and to develop their talent,” Minister Ramson expressed.