Minister denies Sports and Games return off the table

Minister of Sports, Daryll Matthew, has denied reports that the government has shelved the planned revival of the community Sports and Games department.
Matthew, who recently spoke on the Good Morning Jojo Sports show, said that there have been recent fruitful talks on the possible return of the department.
“I don’t know that it is correct to say the concept no longer exists. I have met with Mr. Benjamin on it, just to get an idea from him as to what his perception of what he was supposed to be doing in that department, and so we had some discussions. I met with our sports department here in the ministry as well to find out what their perspective is or was, and we had set a time to meet as a group to see how we can align the two perspectives and divisions and then Carnival happened and a bunch of things happened,” he said. 
In 2014, then minister of sports, E.P. Chet Greene, named the return of Sports and Games as one of three major initiatives to be undertaken by his ministry. The other two were the Four Knights Academy and the sports council, but none of them have come to realisation.
Matthew said that there is a need for the department.
“In fact, I would go a little further to say that it is still very much on the agenda, and I think, based on discussions I’ve had recently, it’s probably closer to coming into fruition than we initially thought, which is as much as I can say on that. It is very much on the cards because we see a need for it,” the minister said.
Former national and West Indies fast bowler, Kenneth “Flipper” Benjamin, who had been handpicked by Greene to head the Sports and Games department, however doubts the concept will become reality.
“I have already moved on from that, so the next time we speak just remember that I have that in the past. I am not looking forward to that, I am not thinking it’s going to happen and I just think it’s a waste of my good time that I prepared this document and so forth and presented it, and so I just call that a dead issue,” he said.
The Sports and Games department is supposed to work in unison with the other sporting divisions in the Ministry of Sports.