‘Most elaborate’ ground enhancement project continues in 2024

Ground enhancement described as “the most elaborate project the country has ever embarked on” in 2023 is expected to continue this year, according to Sport Minister Charles Ramson Jr. at his recent year-end press conference, held at the Arthur Chung Conference Center (ACCC) at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.
The minister revealed that even grounds in the hinterland have benefitted from enhancement.
“I want to move into our ground enhancement programme, because this has been the most elaborate ground enhancement programme the country has ever embarked on. We have done upgrades, and supported the upgrades for over 250 grounds across the country. 100 hinterland communities received $1M to support their upgrades,” Ramson Jr informed.
He added, “And it will be continued support, so that they will get their upgrades in a phased way. Those have started already; and, in Georgetown, for the first time, we’re doing all of the grounds. So, 31 grounds are being done in Georgetown. Some of those grounds have never ever seen clearing.”
According to Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh in his Budget 2024 presentation, some $1.2B was plugged into ground enhancement last year. Ramson shared why this project has been given such investment and attention.
“This is the largest scale of investments that we’ve ever done for community grounds. It’s the area that I’ve paid a lot of attention to, because when I came in here in 2020, it was the worst state of condition that community grounds have ever been in. And community grounds are the lifeblood of any community, a safe space for young people to play. They do a lot of training, which many people don’t know about,” he detailed.
“A lot of that stuff happens there, and that’s why the investment is so large-scale; and you expect to have a lot of that happening this year,” he further stated.
In providing another reason for the project’s necessity, the Sport Minister alleged that it was one that was neglected by the previous APNU/AFC Administration. He
contended, “When I examined the record, the previous administration underfunded the ground enhancement programme. Compared to the 2011-2014 period, the APNU/ AFC administration cut the ground enhancement programme by over 50%. So, when we were spending over $300M a year, they were spending, on average, just over $100M.
“In fact, in 2018, they spent only $30M on community grounds. So, the result is, because of the underinvestment, there’s a backlog of development that we have to take care of. That’s why there’s so much effort, so much attention required, as well as the investment,” Ramson added.
With another billion dollars set to go ground enhancements’ way in 2024, Ramson gave details of the project and work that can be expected from the budgetary allocation. “We’re doing it in a phased way, where the first two phases deal with things like the clearing of the ground, the landfilling, the levelling, rolling and the fencing and the access points. So, things like culverts, bridges et cetera. So, you could use the field when we’re finished,” Ramson revealed.
“And then the next phase coming out of this budget will be things like the facilities: like washrooms, pavilions, stands, et cetera. Those are the kinds of investments that we’ll be making now; but if you don’t get the ground level and user-friendly, people are not going to go on there. Then, if you don’t fence it, depending on the location too, in most instances the ground is going to be destroyed again.”
The Minister concluded, “So, that is the first two phases that we’re looking at, which is just about the accessibility and the ground itself. And then, in 2024, we’ll be using a portion of our budget towards this. You’ll see a lot of community type of work being done in 2024, coming out from our capital investment programme.”
Over 250 grounds have already benefitted under the project.