PM targets grounds upgrade

The Prime Minister who is also Finance Minister disclosed the news in his more than three-hour Budget presentation to Parliament in the Red House in Port-of-Spain.

PM Manning revealed that the allocation will target the upgrade of some 400 recreation grounds throughout Trinidad and Tobago, including the Eddie Hart Savannah in Tacarigua.

Government has also planned upgrading works for the Roland Pompey Recreation in Princes Town, Irvin Park in San Fernando, Soogrin Trace Recreation Ground in Laventille, the Charlieville Recreation Ground, Patna Recreation Ground in Diego Martin and the Lange Park Recreation Ground in Chaguanas.

PM Manning said his $100 million allocation will address this aspect of sports.

It was part of an interesting Budget presentation, the theme of which was "Addressing the Basic Needs of Trinidad and Tobago."

And Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Roger Boynes said Government has already spent $120 million which is currently bearing fruits. He noted an increase in the amount allotted for sports — from $23 million last year to $120 million this year — shows the interest to enhance the development of sports in the country.

Boynes explained that from this amount, Government will also upgrade the Hasely Crawford Stadium at Mucurapo which includes purchasing a cover for the field, as well as the covering of the adjoining Jean Pierre Complex.

Boynes predicted exciting times ahead for sports in Trinidad and Tobago as Government will tackle the development of communities throughout this country.

Chairman of the new National Sports Commission Gerard Ferreira said he was delighted with the amount given saying Government’s focus on community building and development was long overdue.

He said the upgrade of the facilities will coincide with a number of proposed programmes to assist the overall development. According to Ferreira, it included dealing with the training of coaches and administrators.

Ferreira said yesterday that a number of programmes have already been put in place, and they are expected to deal with the overall development of the individual.

However, former Minsiter of Sports in the United National Congress administration Manohar Ramsaran said yesterday Government’s allotment in the 2005/2006 Budget towards sports was not what he expected.

Ramsaran feels that more should have been done for the preparation of facilities for the Cricket World Cup in 2007 saying that he went to Guyana on a cricket tour recently and was appalled to see that the cricket grounds for the greatest cricketing tournament in the world were near readiness while Trinidad and Tobago was far behind. He said that he didn’t feel money was the problem but more so the will of the people in the ministry to do what is necessary.

Ramsaran pointed out he has heard similar presentations for the past two or three years and slammed the sports ministry for poor performance in delivering on its promises.

He in fact described the ministry’s delivery on its promises as "deplorable" saying that a number of facilities that were promised to be built and upgraded were never started.

Ramsaran said he did no know what criteria were used for selecting the facilities to be upgraded, but said it was questionable.

He noted that the clubs that really contributed to the development of cricket in the National Cricket League were excluded, except for a couple. Ramsaran feels that facilities which are used for national league competitions, including cricket and football, should have been considered.

He said Walker Park for instance had been targeted for upgrade last year and to date nothing has been done.

He claimed that the $100 million had been too much for the present ministry to handle, yet the figure would have been too little for sport, under a different minister.