ATHLETES past and present of the calibre of James Wren-Gilkes, the late Elton Jefford and Roxanna Rigby, Marian Burnette, Reona Cornette, Rawle Greene, Aliann Pompey, Jevina  Straker, Cleveland Forde and Chavez Hescott just to name a few, have more than one reason to smile wherever they are. Yesterday morning the contract for the first phase of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport’s (MCYS) synthetic track was signed between the MCYS and the contractor, Courtney Benn Contracting Services Limited (CBCSL), at the old Leonora Cricket ground on the West Coast of Demerara.
The cost of the contract which covers the preparation of the 45 acres of land that will house the parking area as well as a state-of-the-art track is $124 960 227 and according to managing director of CBCSL Courtney Benn, his company would only require seven months commencing today to get the area ready for construction.
“First of all, let me say thanks to the Government of Guyana who have once again placed their trust and confidence in us to get this project completed in a timely and efficient manner, which will take us seven months to accomplish,” Benn stated.
Minister of Sport Dr Frank Anthony expressed his pleasure at arriving at the first phase of the project, following heated debate in the sporting fraternity for many decades with regard to the building of the synthetic track.
“We moved from talking into planning and now the implementation of the construction of the facility, which to my mind is a pleasant thing for the athletics fraternity, following heated debates in the sporting fraternity, outlining whether or not we would get the track built.
“We will be engaging the Guyana Amateur Athletics Association (GAAA) whose membership are the beneficiaries and local companies for their expertise, as we are looking at building a surface that can meet world standard.”
He added’ “When you look at Jamaica and the achievements of their world champion sprinter Usain Bolt, our Government is having the same vision for our athletes in the not-too-distant future and with the completion of this track, certainly we can realise all our dreams.”
Director of Sport in the National Sports Commission (NSC) Neil Kumar congratulated the contractor on his reputable achievements of the past, adding how important the track will be to the athletic generation of the country, since the athletes are looking forward to the completion of the track.