Audit 'first step for improving facilities'

THE MINISTRY OF SPORTS will receive and make public an audit on all sporting facilities and grounds across the island in about two weeks.

According to Minister Esther Byer-Suckoo, this audit would assist her ministry on the way forward in developing sporting programmes for the communities.

She made the comments yesterday at the Democratic Labour Party luncheon at its headquarters, George Street, St Michael.

"We actually have a lot of land and a lot of buildings invested in sport in this country and we are not putting them to . . . adequate use. Some communities have gotten hardcourts and pavilions. But sadly . . . some of these are just lying waste because we haven't developed programmes around them," she said.

She said that money that has been invested in those facilities and land must be capitalised upon.

"We have to ensure that people at the community level can be involved in sports," she said. "If we are not careful, we can see people becoming idle."

"So we have done the facilities audit and I should be able to make it public in another couple of weeks, and with that audit we actually went through the communities in Barbados . . . to see where we have hardcourts . . . ; what about our pavilions, what do we have in them, what are they equipped to do [and so on]," she said.

Additionally, she noted that the ministry decided this coming financial year to install more lights and clean up many sports facilities. (TM)