Dear Editor,
Today Guyana is going through sad and difficult times in sport. At the just concluded Pan American Games 2019, our athletes returned with no silverware, no medals. And at the press conference, all we were told was “No Government investment, medal-less return and disappointed performance”.
Nicolette Fernandes, thank you, in 2011 you kept the Golden Arrowhead flying high, you brought home a Bronze Medal from the same games.
Team Guyana was impressive with a forty-member contingent representing eight disciplines. The parade was impressive, however, dishearteningly it was the only part of this outing that impressed. The Golden Arrowhead was not hoisted even once at the presentation ceremony. Oh! The drought continued.
My good friends were quick to criticise the PPP/C for a lack of sports facilities. I am proud to remind all Guyana that we have a modern Olympic size swimming pool and we had a world-class international coach. The first thing the APNU/AFC did was to kick out the coach. We built and equipped the Andrew Lewis “Six Head” Boxing Gym and we employed an international boxing coach and the APNU/AFC chased the coach out of the country and destroyed the “Six Head” Gym. Today the Andrew Lewis Gym is not functioning and it is a disgrace in the community. I visited the area and the residents were quick to say that they want the PPP to return to Government.
The state-of-the-art international athletic track at Lenora has been devolved into a white elephant by this ruinous APNU/AFC Government. No coach, no planned programme and the equipment is being sold off and stolen. The new squash court that we built at the Racquet Centre at Woolford Avenue has also been relegated to white elephant status. The PPP/C built a state-of-the-art National Sports Resource Centre at Woolford Avenue has met a similar fate thanks to the incompetent management and a lack of vision by the current Government.
Where are all the developmental programmes? This APNU/AFC Government managed to destroy the Inter Guyana Games with corruption and thievery. The IGG was put in place to give our very young athletes, while at school, an opportunity to compete on the international stage. Investment in sports is an investment in our people. We need to strengthen our club structures. We need to protect our gains and maximise benefits from the infrastructure that we have. After four years, the APNU/AFC coalition Government has failed to build a chicken pen to grow two chickens. Our sportsmen/sportswomen cannot afford to purchase a piece of chicken to eat. Sportsmen must be able to eat properly and with the growing and sky-high cost of living, our youths are looking out for a meal. Guyana desperately needs and deserves better leadership! Our young people must be shown the way forward.
Sincerely,
Neil Kumar
