THE dream of having a sports ground and resource centre in ‘A’ Field, Sophia is becoming a reality now that Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes, has teamed up with several stakeholders and residents there.

The Georgetown Mayor and City Council, the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Prison Service have cleared vegetation from a plot of land which was set aside for the playground.
Recently, Minister Broomes, while traversing through the community of Sophia, encountered a group of young men playing football on the main public road which separates ‘A’ Field and ‘B’ Field Sophia. She subsequently gifted a football and two goal posts to them, and the youngsters then capitalised on the interaction with the minister, asking for her intervention.

Royston Borges was among the young men who explained that a plot of land in ‘A’ Field Sophia was set aside for a playfield but the area was neglected. He explained the many challenges and risk when playing on the streets of the community.
“We play on the tarmac out there on the culvert, but it is not so confortable because of the traffic and the game would be stopping ever so often; it don’t be so enjoyable,” he explained.

He said the establishment of the ground is a stepping stone to where the community sees itself in the not so distant future, and would create a safe space for the children of Sophia.
Minister Broomes took up the challenge to get the ground cleared and enlisted the support of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Prison Service and even the residents. On Saturday, they pooled their manpower together and started clearing the heavily vegetated plot of land. Following the debushing, the group is expected to fill the area with sand.

In an interview with Guyana Chronicle, Minister Broomes said she was moved by the request of the youngsters, and opted to organise the project. “I believe in us as a community coming back to that place that even if we have a council, and aside from the work government is doing, that we as a community has to be involved… so they could make a difference in their communities,” she explained.

The minister said Commissioner of Police, Leslie James, a resident of Sophia, quickly bought into the initiative.
Acting Town Clerk Sharon Harry-Munroe, in a separate interview, told Guyana Chronicle that the development of the playground would allow the children and young people of the community to better engage in positive activities.

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“You know the young people have a lot of energy, so rather than that participating in activities that are not deemed to be acceptable, if you have somewhere you can actually work and play, it would be a better thing than to just be liming on the road corner and things like that,” Harry-Munroe said.

The acting town clerk said she was more than happy to partner with Minister Broomes and the Guyana Police Force to execute the project. She posited that sooner rather than later, the Georgetown Municipality will bring Sophia into its remit, and provide it with the necessary services.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Paul Williams, who also visited the location on Saturday, told this newspaper that that project forms part of a larger initiative.
He explained that over the years, the Guyana Police Force has been working with youths through different programmes, including the Guyana Police Force Scouts Group to direct the actions of young people away from delinquent behaviour.

This new initiative, he said, will take it one step forward.
“What we have recognised is that there are a lot of now developing schemes, and indeed within the plan of these developing schemes, there are highlighted places for playgrounds, but they are underdeveloped.

“So this administration of the Guyana Police Force has decided to embark on locating those places and have them developed. So the commissioner and the administrative team will now task commanders and the sub-divisional officers directly where these underdeveloped playfields find themselves, and we will develop them,” he explained.

Williams noted that the Guyana Prison Service has offered its full support in addition to the other stakeholders, including the residents, in the execution of the current project. A prison officer and 12 prisoners from Lusignan, who are on the verge of completing their prison sentences, assisted in clearing the land.

Moving forward, the deputy commissioner said that the Force would partner with other stakeholders to establish resource centres within the Sophia community, noting that there is still a place for reading books in today’s technological world.