By Neto Baptiste
Minister of Sports, Daryll Matthew, said government has its ducks in a row concerning the planned erection of an aquatic centre in the Potters community and is awaiting completion of requested modifications to the original architectural drawings before it can proceed.
Matthew made the disclosure while speaking with Observer media at the VC Bird International Airport on Tuesday night as they welcomed home the national swimming team from the Carifta Aquatic Championships held in Curacao.
“The association has indicated there are some changes that are required to be made to the layout of the facility, to the layout of the main building that includes a gym and office spaces and so on. Also they require and almost insist on having a specialist onboard so that once completed, the facility will meet all international standards so that we can host. We agree with them because at the end of the day, they are the ones who will effectively be the custodians and the main users of the facility so they are currently working on the redesign based on the suggesting being made,” he said.
“From a government standpoint we’re ready to go but we just want to do it right so there is no embarrassment to anyone or no wastage of public funds in building a facility that may not meet the type in international standards that is required,” he added.
Government broke ground on the site earmarked for the project back in December last year while promising that construction would have commenced within weeks.
Matthew congratulated the swimmers on their latest achievements in Curacao, adding that their success came as no surprise.
“First of all, I’d like to congratulate not only the athletes but the administrators, the coaches and the parents because over the last decade, at least, the swimming federation has demonstrated that once you have a long term plan in place and once you have parental support and committed athletes, administrators and coaches you will get success. And so, over the last few competitions that the association has participated in, we’ve seen the success come forward and so it’s almost déjà vu here this evening as we welcome the team back,” the minister said.
Antigua and Barbuda picked up four medals on the final day of the competition to bring their tally for the championships to 10 including two gold, four silver, and four bronze.
The twin island state finished 12th overall from among 20 competing countries with a total of 108 points, just one point behind 11th-placed Grenada. Bahamas, once again, won the championship with 1113 points over the Cayman Islands who finished second with 752 points. Trinidad & Tobago finished third with 534 points.
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