Dear Editor,
At approximately 17:00 hours on Thursday, January 18, 2007 some youths from the Lodge Community were playing their regular game of cricket on the tarmac of the National Cultural Centre. An individual (who I subsequently learnt was the Administrator of the Centre) went to them and in a very aggressive and abusive manner, ordered them off the tarmac.
He also seems to have a problem when instructing the guards working at the Centre because on more than one occasion he can be seen loudly berating them for something he perceives to be wrong.
Mr. Minister, before the advent of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, the tarmac was used by the youths of this community as a recreational facility. We as parents would much prefer that they are engaged in a worthwhile pursuit rather than loitering around which would probably get them in trouble. In our society today, where moral standards have declined and peer pressure abounds, it is heartening to see that there are still some who would like to walk the straight and narrow and as such find something constructive to do in their leisure time.
Your intervention in this matter as Minister responsible for youths is being sought. Let’s give the youths something to look forward to in the afternoons after school and work. I have noted your vested interest in the elevation of our youths since your appointment and I feel sure that there will be a satisfactory conclusion to this matter.
Yours faithfully,
(name and address
supplied)
Editor’s note
We sent a copy of this letter to Dr Frank Anthony, the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports for his comments and received the following response from Mr Keith H. Booker, M.S.M., the Permanent Secretary:
“The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports under whose purview the National Cultural Centre falls, has always seen the National Cultural Centre Tarmac as an open safe space where young people can meet and participate in outdoor recreational activities.
The Ministry however requires that the groups which use the tarmac be organized and respect the properties surrounding, especially the security lights which have been damaged also panes of glass on the National Cultural Centre Building. Additionally some groups have been littering the premises.
It is the continued attempt to ensure that team leaders have their groups develop a greater sense of responsibility that would have created some problems.
Teams however, with supervision and good leadership continue to use the tarmac.”
