‘We are not the hold-up’: Clashing says swimming federation welcomes aquatic centre

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1. Government officials broke ground at the proposed site for the aquatic centre in December (File photo)
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By Neto Baptiste

Newly elected President of the Antigua and Barbuda Amateur Swimming Federation (ABSF), Edith Clashing, said that although the body had requested some changes be made to the architectural drawings for the proposed national aquatic centre, they are hardly the reason for the project not yet getting off the ground.

“They were supposed to get back to us as well in terms of whatever adjustments they were supposed to make, and there were some other issues that came to light in that meeting, at which not all the critical individuals attended. The engineer was not there, the minister himself was not there, and so we discovered there are some land issues they told us they would have to get back to us on, and so I don’t think we were holding things up. I think the elections came in between that, and to date, we have not been invited back to a meeting. However, I am not going to wait for them to invite us back to a meeting, I will ask them to please have a meeting with us,” she said.

Clashing’s statement comes on the heels of suggestions by sports minister Daryll Matthew that the project’s start was put on hold following requests by the federation that some aspects of the drawings be adjusted.

The former technical director for swimming outlined some of the concerns the federation shared with the relevant authorities, those responsible for the project.

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Artist rendition of the proposed aquatic centre

“They had a small learn-to-swim pool that was in the wrong place, there were issues with the stands and how they were designed, so we needed to have some adjustments with the stands. Also, we looked at the whole layout and we made a suggestion about changing the direction it was facing so that we have opportunity for expansion when needed; those are some of the issues. There was another building that was presented and that was supposed to be a gym, and it didn’t make sense where they had some of the bathrooms with one on one end the one on the other end,” the swimming boss said. 

Clashing said attempts to have a sit-down with all the relevant parties have proven futile to date, but she indicated that one-on-one conversations have been fruitful and they are prepared to work with the authorities going forward.

“We were given the impression that these plans had already even been presented to DCA, and I was told that it was not so, because I found that was a strange thing and we were not really consulted at the time, so it was at that meeting that I discovered there were still a lot of things to iron out,” she said.

“I don’t want to speak negatively about anything, but it’s just that taking into consideration all of what was happening at that particular time, there was a rush to make an announcement, and maybe it was a bit premature, but it is what it is. We are just happy to know that a facility has been agreed upon and that we’ll work with them to make sure that we get what is really needed for us to function, and to be able to host events,” she added. 

Matthew, while speaking on another radio station, said it was not the fault of the government why the project is yet to commence, pointed to changes requested by the federation as the main cause.

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