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Prior to that ceremony, President Ramotar interacted with members of the Progressive Youth Organization (PYO) and other youths in the community, and enjoyed a game of cricket with them before commissioning the pavilion, which was renovated at a cost of G$300M.
“It is a pleasure to share this moment with the community, to commission this pavilion,” the President said.
Renovation of the centre commenced after a $300M budget was passed in Parliament for reconstruction of community centres across the country.
The President said he was pleased with the reconstruction of the centre, and hoped that the community would ‘make maximum use’ of it.
“This developing sports and sporting facilities is very important in our overall objective of having a higher quality of life in our country,” he said, pointing out that the quality of life was weightier than materialism, and instead revolves around the reaction and appreciation of sports and culture.
He emphasized that sports possessed the potential to inculcate discipline and standards within an individual. “It has rules, just as society has rules and laws. And if you break the rules, there is a penalty,” the President remarked, adding that sports create a space for team effort.
“We can achieve things for our country if we work as a team, and sports help to bring that naturally into people,” he said. “Sports bring communities together, and it gives them pride, a pride in what they have; and I hope that you can keep it, maintain it and use it,” he admonished the gathering of people.
He also noted that sports provide a distraction for youths that are prone to be led astray into the abuse of drugs.
He said he was happy that the centre was not restricted to cricket alone, but has included other sports into its general use. Besides the centre’s cricket club, there is also a volleyball club, and most recently a karate club has been established.
The President, however, expressed desire to see the centre used for the development of theatre arts and other cultural activities. “I urge you to make maximum use of the facility, and care it for generations to come,” he admonished.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Dr. Frank Anthony, said the renovation process was a ‘modest’ start to developing the community of Enmore, but added that he was pleased with the pace of the process.
He said that, as a minister, he was happy to work with the community to resuscitate a community centre that was once used for international sporting events, but had overtime suffered from ‘erosion’ and neglect. “We hope that we can back programmes like those to this community, and even exceed what has happened in the past.”
Work was carried out on the fences and gate of the ground. “We have started with a modest effort,” Dr Anthony said. “We know that it means a lot.”
The explosion of sporting activities in the centre has also propelled the Sports Ministry to seek consultation for a management committee to control the affairs of the centre. Dr Anthony said the Ministry is searching for order within the centre and various clubs, and therefore, in a week’s time, the management committee would be established.
Dr Anthony said the Government of Guyana and the President had both been very eager to revive sports at the community level, noting that $300M had been set aside for the reconstruction of community centres across the country. “We have just gotten approval for 155 grounds…there are many communities which will be benefiting from the grant,” he said.
So far, 26 communities in Region Four have been allocated money to start development of their community centres. “We are working with the people there to ensure that they are able to manage these facilities. There is no region that is excluded from this programme,” he stated.
“We are very serious about getting sports back into our communities,” Dr Anthony said.
Meanwhile, Tejnauth Jadunauth, Chairman of the Enmore Community Centre Cricket Club, said renovation of the centre was significant, because, ‘after a long time’, Enmore is witness to ‘active’ development. He said many difficulties arose during the renovation, but the area management had overcome each obstacle. “Our aim is to develop the youths in the community,” he said, noting that there are fifty youths between 12-19 years old with whom the centre has been working to develop sporting skills.
He added that the centre has also developed a relationship with the families of the youths, in order to reduce the social challenges that every home faces. He said management was looking to integrate the community through cohesive interaction.
