A BUDGETED $210M for proposed synthetic track facilities to be laid in Regions 2, 4, 6, 7 and 10 was the highlight that came out of Minister within the Ministry of Education responsible for Culture, Youth and Sport, Nicolette Henry’s budget debate speech when she addressed the National Assembly yesterday morning.The minister’s overall 28-minute speech included deliberations about sports, culture and youth policies.
The Minister opened by saying that her presentation “will focus on the achievements in 2016, as well as the measures and plans contained in this budget, intended to positively impact the areas of culture, youth and sport.”
As it pertains to sports, Henry made the promise that the government will “work assiduously to prepare our athletes, and 2020 Olympics should see Guyanese athletes more than just participating, but rather they will be given the requisite support and tools to compete”.
Following up, the Minister stated that the 2017 budget “makes provision for support to our athletes to benefit from training and development exposure”.
The minister did not elaborate or mention the specific programmes or initiatives that will be implemented towards achieving this end or say what direct support will be given to the athletes, or say what was allocated towards achieving this goal.
On a mini report on achievements made for this year, the realisation of the National Sports Commission (NSC) electronic national database for athletes was cited.
She did, however, hint at realisation of the long-awaited National Sports Policy in 2017, which will “guide” the NSC in its move to “strengthen sport-related services”.
She also spoke of the continuation of the training and accreditation of coaches in 2017 through bilateral agreements with Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and Germany, which will provide training in athletics, rugby, football, swimming and any other sporting discipline which needs technical assistance and support.”
The provision of up to $10M was mentioned for the continued enhancement and upgrade of identified facilities in the community ground enhancement initiative.
Also towards the facilities, Henry says sports facilities can look forward to wifi in 2017, which will aid in the streaming of sports events across the internet.
After that the Minister moved on to culture.
When the APNU/AFC government took over the reins in 2015 the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport was absorbed as a department under the Ministry of Education so that culture, youth and sport initiatives could better be integrated into the school system.