By Neto Baptiste
A lack of resources coupled with efforts to prioritise government spending are major reasons why immediate plans for the further development of the country’s lone track and field facility, the YASCO Sports Complex, have not been prioritised.
This is according to Minister of Sports, Daryll Matthew, who said government’s ability to spend on anything other than necessities has been significantly reduced by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The last three years have been tumultuous years for funding for anything outside of wages and salaries and basic survival in this country. I know the track and field fraternity may be frustrated but it is just the reality in which we are living right now and when you see all the different groups advocating for increased salaries, for back pay, the monies have to come from somewhere, and the money has to be prioritized.
“I run the risk of the public listening to me and saying that ‘the minister say we are not prioritising sports’, but that is not what I am saying. I am just saying that the money has to come from somewhere and unless you have a fairy godfather or fairy godmother or an alternative means of raising revenue, it’s always going to be challenging in these particular times,” he said.
Since the laying of a new Mondo surface at the facility in the first quarter of 2021, there has been no further upgrades despite promises by the government that they would have moved swiftly to complete other aspects of the project.
However, Matthew said he has been given assurances by Minister of Public Works, Maria Browne, that the unfinished bathroom structure on the south-western end of the facility will be given priority.
“She has given the assurance that it is something they would prioritise and I know that over the last three or four weeks they have been out in the English Harbour area [attending] the Sailing Week activities and trying to ensure that all is well out there to facilitate the success … but I have been given the assurance that the bathroom is going to be priority as well,” he said.
The sports minister said his goal is to one day, provide athletes with a world class facility.
“One of the things I would like to see happen is for us to have a world class facility at YASCO where we can host international events and we can maintain properly. I think our athletes deserve it and most people would tell you that track and field is the darling of international sports, and whether or not persons like it, it is most likely the discipline where we will achieve major international success; so it’s a difficult pill to swallow where YASCO is concerned,” Matthew said.
YASCO, in July of 2021, was internationally certified as a Class 2 Athletics Facility by World Athletics.
