…Commission will appoint Director of Sports following consultation with Minister, according to Act

MINISTER of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr, told the National Assembly on Friday last, that he will soon announce the appointment of Commissioners to the National Sports Commission (NSC), which will pave the way for the hiring of the country’s Director of Sport.
Ramson, addressing Parliament during the budget debate, also hinted to a probe of the NSC’s work and spending during the rule of the APNU+AFC coalition Government.

“The National Sport Commission was appointed in 2017 and in two years, they had three meetings. They never had audited statements. They never laid in this Parliament as they’re required to do by the Act…never submitted reports to the previous minister. The entire place was in a disaster,” Ramson told the House.
Ramson, since becoming minister, has been chastised by Opposition Member of Parliament, Jermaine Figueira, over the failure to appoint the commissioners at the National Sports Commission.

The minister, however, insisted that he’s being guided by the 1993 Sports Commission Act, and would’ve also pointed out that said since the March 2 Elections, the PPP/C party has been vocal about being compliant with the laws of the land, and as such, he is insisting that he doesn’t “intend to break the law” when it comes to the appointment of a Director of Sport.

There is no clear criteria in the Act as it relates to the requirements for being the Director of Sports, with the two previous Directors, since 1993 (Neil Kumar and Christopher Jones), were both highly affiliated with their respective political parties. In fact, Jones is now the Opposition’s Chief Whip in the National Assembly.
In 1993, Samuel Hinds, in his capacity as acting President of Guyana at the time, assented to the National Sports Commission Act which was passed in the sitting of the Sixth Parliament on December 3 that year.

According to the National Sports Commission Act, Section 11 (1), “The Commission may, after consultation with the Minister, employ upon such terms and conditions as it thinks fit, a Director of Sport, and such other officers and employees as the Commission deems necessary for the proper carrying out of its functions.”
The Act outlines the Director of Sport as being the “Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, and subject to any general or specific directions of the Commission, be responsible to the Commission for ensuring that the functions of the Commission are properly discharged and objectives achieved.”

The Director of Sport shall be responsible for “managing the Secretariat of the Commission; managing the funds as directed by the Commission and preparing quarterly financial reports, accounts for presentation at meetings of the commission; causing minutes of meetings to be kept, and keeping members of the Commission informed, particularly by presenting an activity report at each meeting of the Commission.”

Meanwhile, in the recent sitting of the National Assembly, Minister Ramson said the Ministry has also found that taxpayers’ money to construct synthetic athletic tracks in Regions Six and Ten were mismanaged, and the projects are far behind schedule.
According to Ramson, “the only project was done in the last administration, it started in 2018. They said that it would have been completed in 2019. Then he [the previous subject minister] went back and said that it would have been completed in 2020. It is 2021 and it’s still not completed, but the People’s Progressive Party will come and finish your job.”

In 2018, BK International Incorporated was awarded a $141 million contract for the track at Burnham Park, New Amsterdam, Berbice, while Builders Hardware and General Supplies obtained the $179 million contract for the one at the Bayroc Community Centre Ground, Wismar, Linden.
The Sport Minister said the government has done much more for the people in the six months that they have been in office than the former government did during its entire tenure.