Jamaica to Capitalise on Opportunities through National Sports Policy

Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Olivia Grange, has said that the Government is currently developing a National Sports Policy, to ensure that Jamaica can replicate its successes at the Beijing Olympics and to capitalise on the economic and social opportunities that the sport industry provides.
Miss Grange was delivering the keynote address at the opening of the International Congress on Sports for Peace and Development on September 13, at the University of Technology (UTech), in Kingston.
“My Ministry is currently undertaking a somewhat ambitious exercise to develop a National Sports Policy for Jamaica. We are taking a somewhat novel approach, to treat sport as an industry with the potential to make a significant contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We feel that sport can become a leading industry in the Jamaican economy by the year 2030,” the Minister said.
“We propose to embark on a programme to construct mini-stadiums in urban centres, develop playfields at schools and in communities, train more coaches and have them identify and develop talent at the school and community levels, and provide more physical education teachers in the school system,” she outlined.
The Minister sees this undertaking as an important step in the development of sport as an industry in Jamaica, and is of the view that it will ultimately enhance the country’s ability to continue and improve on its tradition of athletic excellence.
“These initiatives, we believe, will help us to identify more Usain Bolts, Asafa Powells and Veronica Campbell-Browns. More champion athletes, to build on the excellent achievements that Jamaica has had over the years, going back to the pioneering attainments of Dr. Arthur Wint and Herb McKenley,” she asserted.
Also speaking at the opening ceremony were Director, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Office for the Caribbean, Kwame Boafo; Assistant Director General, UNESCO, Pierre Sane, and President of the Jamaica Olympic Association, Mike Fennell.
The International Congress on Sports for Peace and Development, is being hosted by the Ministry of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, in association with UNESCO, from September 13 to 16.
It continues today (September 15), with presentations from former Prime Minister of Jamaica, Edward Seaga; former Minister of Finance, Dr. Omar Davies; Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, Trinidad and Tobago, Gary Hunt and Minister Grange. Representatives from UNESCO and the Intergovernmental Committee on Physical Education and Sport (CIGEPS), will also be participating.