Senior Minister within the Office of the President with responsibility for finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, during his presentation of Budget 2022 to the National Assembly yesterday (Wednesday 26 January 2022) stated that some $2.2 billion dollars have been allocation to support the nation’s sport sector in 2022.
According to Dr Singh, “the sports programme aims to ensure that all Guyanese are provided with opportunities to participate in sporting activities, thereby channelling energies, abilities and talents to contribute meaningfully to national development, in its various dimensions”.
The Minister went on to disclose that some $1.4 billion has been budgeted for sports infrastructure and development as funds will be spent on completing synthetic tracks in Regions Six and Ten; the multi-purpose sports facilities; the erection of stands at the National Track and Field Centre and rehabilitation works at the National Stadium to support the Cricket Academy.
Some $250 million has also been budgeted for the continued improvement of the community grounds, this is included in the aforementioned $1.4 billion.
Budget 2022 has allocated another $45.8 million for maintenance works to sports facilities including McKenzie Sports Club, Kwakwani Recreational Centre, National Aquatic Centre and Colgrain Pool.
“To ensure that we deliver on His Excellency’s vision of a “bottom-up approach” to the development of sports, we have strived to strengthen our partnerships with sports associations; also, we continue to place emphasis on the community grounds,” Dr Singh explained.
