Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony yesterday announced that that his ministry will pump $1.8M into the staging of the first ever National Paralympics Championships on October 11.
Minister Anthony said that with Guyana now setting up its first Paralympic Association which he expects to get on stream by September, it would be set as an annual fixture on his ministry’s calendar of events to have the championships.
Swimming, Athletics, football and table tennis are the sports that will be played at this year’s event to be held at the Carifesta Sports Complex.
The primary objective according to the minister is to introduce Guyana to the Paralympic Games which are held following the Olympics Games.
An attempt to send a representative to the event which will be held in London 2012 is not on the agenda at present, Anthony declared, stating that at present it is only to make people with disability feel that they can play sports normally at a high level.
Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony has given the steering committee, headed by Carl Brandon and Milton Spencer, a time frame in which they have to come together with other members to form the Paralympic Association.
He has given his ministry’s complete backings once it is off the ground and so far the committee has planned to hold a consultation meeting on August 17 with members of various sports organization and more so those which caters for people with disability.
Meanwhile, Spencer said that they are grateful for the profound interest shown by the ministry to help them form the association adding that thus far things have been progressing smoothly.
Members of the Paralympic steering committee are:
Stepfanie Fraser, Dennis Hunte, Carl Brandon, Milton Spencer, Linden Johnson, Desryn Softliegh, Anand Mangru and Hassan Mohamed.