Ministry of Education is spending billions on sports development

Dear Editor,

The letter by T Pemberton captioned ‘More money needed for sports development’ (KN, September 8) refers.

The Government of Guyana recognizes the importance of sports and, therefore, has ‘pumped’ billions of dollars towards the development of sport in all forms. This includes the upgrading of our sporting facilities and the training of our sportsmen and sportswomen in their particular disciplines. One of the several facilities that were upgraded is the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall which is now of international standard. Also three scholarships were awarded to Owen Adonis, Emanuel Archibald and Alque Stanley respectively to the tune of five million dollars. Two more scholarships will be awarded during the course of this year. A lot more will be done during the remainder of the year and will continue during the ensuing years. Our eyes are on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The Sports budget for the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport for 2015 amounted to $503,244,000 with current being $291,588,000 and capital $211,656,000); for 2016 it is, $726,053,000 with current being $414, 099,000 and capital $311,954,000 ); and for 2017 the figure is $1,578,149,000 with current being $ 548,260,000 and capital $1,029,889,000.

The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport has pledged its continued unstinting support to the development of sport in all its forms and seeks to ensure that our athletes are properly trained so that they will be able to represent the country at the highest level. It is also anticipated that other sports fraternities will throw in their lot so that we can produce athletes of calibre.

Yours faithfully, Nicolette Henry Minister within the Ministry of Education Department of Culture Youth and Sport