Nagamootoo urges Commonwealth Federation to unite through sports

At the official opening of the Commonwealth Games Conference 2017 on Sunday, Acting President and Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo, called on the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) and the Commonwealth Games Federation to work on strategies to use sport to foster an overcoming spirit in the Region’s youth, in the wake of the losses that they would have suffered during the recent hurricanes which ravaged several Caribbean islands.

Speaking at the conference hosted by the GOA at their new head office at Liliendaal, ECD, Prime Minister Nagamootoo, on behalf of Guyana, noted that Government stands in solidarity and sympathy with those affected, and offers its support to those persons in the region who must now rebuild their lives.
“Sports, for me, represents the human value that rises above difficulties; that rises against challenges; that overcomes eventually, and soars higher, above all of these challenges [that] we may face. So we have a responsibility to use sports to help to rebuild; to use sports — as you know — to meet the other many challenges that policies and strategies that governments cannot remedy successfully or completely,” he said.

President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Ms Louise Martin, called on the participants of the conference to stand in a moment of silence as they remember the victims of the destructive hurricanes.
President Martin, in her brief address, revealed that prior to the departure of the Queen’s baton, the Queen specifically instructed that the baton be carried to as many people as possible, so that they could be afforded the opportunity to touch it.
She charged the countries to continue working together, developing together, and celebrating together, as they strive to embody the theme of the Commonwealth, which is “a peace-building Commonwealth”.
Meanwhile, Saint Lucia Minister of Culture and Commonwealth Games Federation Regional Vice-President of the Caribbean, Senator Fortuna Belrose, mirrored the Prime Minister’s call, pointing out that the GOA’s achievement is an important testimony of how the Commonwealth body wants to position sport, “by attracting and building on public/private social partnerships that widely benefit our athletes, our community, and sports in general”.
Director of Sport, Mr. Christopher Jones; GOA President, Mr. Kalam A. Juman-Yassin; Secretary of the Guyana Amateur Swimming Association, Dr. Karen Pilgrim; President of the Commonwealth Games Federation, Ms. Louise Martin; Minister of Sports of Antigua and Barbuda, and President of the Antigua and Barbuda Olympic Association, Senator Chet Greene; and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative for Guyana and Suriname, Ms. Sylvie Fouet, also attended the conference.