Sports Minister Highlights Investments in Infrastructure

Recent investments in the country’s sporting infrastructure have placed it in a firm position to serve the training and development needs of the various professionals.

According to Minister with responsibility for Sport, Hon. Natalie Neita Headley, over the last four years, emphasis has been placed on infrastructure development, to ensure that the progress Jamaica has been making in sport continues on an uninterrupted path.

“We recognize that it is impossible to train our athletes to world standards, without having world class facilities,” the Minister said.

She was breaking ground for a new multi-purpose court in the community of Deeside, in St. Catherine, on February 12.

The Minister cited the $36 million development plan for  the Leila Robinson netball court at the National Arena, of which $13 million was spent to expand the stands at the facility; the new $25 Mona hockey turf, and the $168 million spent for the construction of a new synthetic track at the St. Catherine based G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport, as some of the tangible efforts made to make sport a sustainable industry.

“You can’t have the best physical education college of sport in this hemisphere and not have a proper track. We are also very pleased to have had, for the first time, lights at Sabina Park, in collaboration with the Government of India,” she said.

The Minister said that the $250 million spent to upgrade sporting infrastructure in some 24 high schools; and the first all-whether synthetic track at Calabar High School are initiatives that will deliver good results for many years to come.

“We are also heavy on the athlete’s welfare and wellbeing, and for the first time in the region, there is an athlete insurance plan, which commenced on February 1,” the Minister said.