THE MINISTRY of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) on Thursday afternoon last, inked a contract with Eron Lall Civil Engineering Works to the tune of G$44,113,430M, towards the construction of a Resource Centre at the Woolford Avenue based National Racquet Centre.

Prior to the signing of the contracts, Director of Sport within the National Sports Commission Neil Kumar called on the media fraternity to not spare the contractors and construction companies, who are paid to deliver Government sports projects in a timely manner but often fail to do so, of criticism.
“Please criticise and criticise objectively. Criticise the man who is being paid to get the job done. When you see it’s taking long, don’t beat us up, blame the contractor. Lay that blame at the right place,” Kumar told the media yesterday.
“We are doing this (signing ceremony) for you, especially the media, to know that we are doing this with transparency. We need to have a Resource Centre, so that our sports people can be trained properly,” Kumar continued.
According to Kumar, the facility will house a canteen, two lecture areas, library and washrooms and is expected to be available to sport associations, officials, coaches and athletes for training development and he is of the view that contractors ought to be accountable.
Design and Construction Services Limited (DCSL) will overlook the project which is expected to commence within the next 14 days and will be resourced by an annual budgetary amount.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS), Dr. Frank Anthony believes that the initiative is a vehicle for the development of a National Sports Institute that will be able to offer courses and eventually diplomas in various aspects of sports.
“We are going to budget resources to get books etc. to help officials keep abreast. Associations have been complaining about having an area where they can train people. This area will be used for that,” Anthony said, adding it will be a coordinated effort.
The Minister said that the idea may seem small at the moment, but could develop into something much bigger for holistic development of sports, while MCYS’ Permanent Secretary, Alfred King believes that students will be able to use the facility for Physical Education studies.