A Memorandum of Agreement for the refurbishment of the lawn tennis courts of the National Park has been signed between executives of the Guyana Lawn Tennis Association (GLTA) and the National Parks Commission (NPC).
According to a press release from the GLTA, the agreement was signed between GLTA’s president, Christopher Ram and NPC chairman, John Caesar, in the Boardroom of Jenman Building in the Botanical Gardens, NPC office on August 19.
Witnessing the signing of the agreement were NPC’s General Manager, Yolanda Vasconcellos, Operations Manger, Clement Trotz, Secretary of the GLTA, Ramesh Seebarran, and Public Relations Officer of the GLTA Sandeep Chand.
As a result, work on the project is expected to commence in the next two months as the preliminary drawing of the project has already been completed.
Commenting on the agreement, Caesar said he was pleased with the partnership coming to fruition and expressed his satisfaction that this will bring more and better facilities to the public.
He called for more organizations to come onboard with the NPC and seize the opportunity to promote the NPC’s landscaping services.
Ram expressed delight that work on the rehabilitation and expansion project can now proceed adding that priority would be given to resurfacing and painting of the courts.
Shelly-Daly Ramdyhan, coach of the Park Players Tennis Club, one of the clubs which utilises the National Park’s courts, expressed relief that the courts will now be rehabilitated pointing out that in its present state, the courts posed several challenges for the players.
She noted that one of the major impediments was that the courts had no formal irrigation system and during the rainy season clubs were forced to wait until the water evaporated from the courts.
“One of our biggest challenges with using the courts is that whenever it rains the courts always gets flooded, and there is no way for the water to get off the court because there isn’t any sort of drainage around the court. It has a trench at the back but there is no drain for the water to run out. So whenever it rains you have to wait sometimes days for the water to dry up,” Ramdyhan noted.
The signing follows a draft proposal that was exchanged between the two parties some five yeas ago and the GLTA said it considers the easy accessibility and secure environment of the National Park as two important factors in the drive to provide more suitable tennis facilities to the public.
It was disclosed that a committee comprising representatives of the NPC and the GLTA would meet as often as necessary to ensure that the objectives of the agreement are achieved.
The GLTA will be responsible for arranging funding to assist in the pre-approved maintenance and development of the facilities including courts, fixtures and amenities at the tennis facilities.
The GLTA said in a release that it has already held fruitful discussions with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Tennis Federation and one major financial institution to accumulate the significant sums that are needed to bring the courts up to the required standards in anticipation of the landmark agreement.
When completed, the GLTA and the NDC will oversee the operations of the facilities, utilizing their best efforts to maintain and upkeep the courts and surroundings, as well as monitor and assist with the maintenance of the grounds in the immediate area. The public courts will be open for the use of all persons desirous of playing tennis, the release stated.
Ram yesterday told Stabroek Sport that the rehabilitation will be looking into the issues highlighted by Ramdyhan.
He noted that they will be working as far as the money could go, adding that the expansion aspect would cover the possibility of the setting up of a fourth court on the facility which currently has three courts.