Minister Norton to provide sporting gear to East Ruimveldt Community Centre -ICT hub to be opened month end

Georgetown, Guyana – (October 16, 2017) Minister of Social Cohesion, with responsibility for Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. George Norton, last Friday, pledged to provide a number of sporting, exercise and other gear to the East Ruimveldt Community Centre Ground as part of Government’s efforts to ensure that the nation’s youth are meaningfully engaged. On its completion, the ground, which is being rehabilitated under the Ministry’s Ground Enhancement and Care Project, will feature a football turf, cricket pitch and grass track.

This activity is being implemented in several communities across the country and is a collaborative effort among the Ministry, Mayor and Town Councils and the residents. Works are simultaneously being undertaken at the Campbellville Community Ground and at the Guyana National Gymnasium where a multipurpose court is being developed and a lawn tennis court is being laid. Meanwhile, Mayor of Georgetown, Her Worship, Ms. Patricia Chase-Green, who also attended the public meeting, announced that an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) hub will be opened in the Community Centre by month end.

In his address, Minister Norton said that he was pleased that the young people are embracing the project as community buy-in is essential to maintaining and sustaining it. “Where you need our support, we’re willing to give it to you. When we need your support, we’ll ask you for it. We do this because there is a sector of our community that is going to benefit from this and that’s our youths. We owe it to them… to give them that opportunity [to come] out and have fun, recreation in a healthy environment… If there is anything that we can do to … make them more productive, we must do so,” he said.

The Minister noted that these steps are being implemented in keeping with the Government’s mission to ensure that youth have access to safe, open spaces that will allow them to hone and develop their athletic potential, while cultivating the virtues of discipline, hard work and perseverance.

Meanwhile, Mayor Chase-Green expressed the hope that residents will co-operate with each other, with the municipality and the Government to ensure that the youth can capitalise on these opportunities. She encouraged the residents to appoint a management committee to oversee the care and maintenance of the facilities and to address matters such as littering and other anti-social behaviours that would stymie the project.

Additionally, Technical Director of the Guyana Amateur Weightlifting Association, Mr. Deion Nurse and President of the Guyana Table Tennis Association, Mr. Godfrey Munroe both committed to adding their respective sporting disciplines to the roster of activities that will be held at the Centre.

Director of Sport, Mr. Christopher Jones and District Councillor, Ms. Trichria Richards also attended the meeting.