….says Director of Sport
“ANYONE who wants to be blinded to the tremendous input by this Government to provide this Nation with the necessary facilities to develop Sports either does not love sports or is simply dishonest.”
This is the opinion of the Director of Sport Neil Kumar when questioned by Chronicle Sport on Government’s commitment to the development of sport in Guyana.
“The main task of a Government in the development of sport in any country is to make available adequate facilities and that is what we have been honestly striving to achieve over the years after inheriting nothing, or maybe very little, from the previous regime.
I can honestly say our Government is truly committed to the development of Sport in our country.”
“Look at what has happened so early at the start of this year – a complete resurfacing of the National Park asphalted track so that cycling as well as Fitness and Health-walkers are now enjoying a solid and quality surface – and for this I am extremely proud.”
Kumar added that very soon the International- sized swimming pool at Lilliendall on the East Coast will be completed as well as two brand new Tennis courts at Non Pariel, while substantial repairs have been done to other facilities.
“Our two new spanking squash courts in a brand new building are very modern in that it has Glass backboards. The tennis courts, after a few hiccups, will be ready for play very soon and here I must extend my heartfelt gratitude to Grace McAlmont ( Secretary of National Tennis Association) and Mr. Maxie Fox whose engineering expertise and skills were pivotal in realising the courts.
I don’t think I could thank Mr. Fox enough for the Technical details he provided for the construction of the courts and Ms. Mc Almont for all of her valuable time and assistance.
I must also add that the words of Ian Mc Donald and Dr. Steve Surujbally, both former tennis players, truly inspired me to get the courts completed. When I arrived as Director of Sport we had no Tennis Courts, but now we are nearing completion of two first-class courts that could host International tournaments and this I am extremely proud of,” Kumar declared.
The Director reminded that only last year over $100M was spent on asphalting the area outside the National Stadium at Providence where courts for Netball, Tennis, Basketball and Volleyball will be erected and made available for the respective sporting disciplines.
With regards to the construction of Guyana’s first Stadium in 2007 Kumar signalled out President Bharat Jagdeo, and showered praises on the Head of State for his insightfulness in realising years of dreaming by Guyanese.
“I personally am extremely grateful to President Jagdeo for making the dreams of all Guyanese come true. It was his personal attention that caused us to acquire our first Sports Stadium after years of promises and Dreams.’
Kumar informed that this year Government has budgeted $730M for capital works on Sports and Culture with the majority to be spent on the completion of the All-weather Synthetic Athletics Track  at Leonora on the West Coast of Demerara.
According to Kumar, $427M is allocated to finish the Athletics track while $200M will be spent on upgrading Sports facilities around the country. Another $15M will be spent on purchasing Sports gears and gym equipment.
The Director of Sport also revealed that an additional $62M will be spent on the finishing works of the Olympic-sized swimming pool, while $15M is allocated for the maintenance of the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH). Eight extractor fans at a cost of $2.7M and a standby Generator for $2M have already been bought for CASH and $6M will be spent on effecting repairs to the roof of the National Gymnasium.
“ I can safely say that the future of Sports in Guyana looks bright, as in addition to our investments in providing quality facilities we are also investing in Training courses abroad for Coaches and Administrators and creating employment for such valuable Human Resources,” Kumar lamented.
“People will talk and that is their right, but what is crystal clear is that since this Government took office in 1992 there have been lots of developments in Sports and that is the fact”.