Work has commenced on “Phase One” of the construction of Guyana’s first ever synthetic track at Leonora, West Coast Demerara.
Stabroek Sport paid a visit to the site yesterday and learnt that work on the flagship sports facility began approximately one week ago following the signing of the contract exactly two weeks ago.
At yesterday’s visit Stabroek Sport found that part of the site had been shaved, and sand and stone had been moved to the area.
However, several nests of bees have been identified in a number of trees and this newspaper has learnt that the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) have been notified.
The trees are located in close proximity to several residents and it was pointed out that the trees could not be disturbed for fear of the bees launching an attack on residents.
The synthetic track is being built by the MCYS and will be erected next door to the location identified for the new Leonora Secondary School which is currently under construction.
Phase One entails preparatory works on the facility which involves filling up the land to the desired level for the laying of the track.
This work, worth $124.96 million, was awarded to Courtney Benn contracting Services after the company’s bid was found to be the lowest among eight other companies.
The first phase is expected to be completed by next August.
Following this, an international company is expected to be contracted to undertake the actual laying of the track in “Phase Two” of the project.
Other auxiliary facilities are also expected to be constructed during this phase.
Upon its completion, Guyana’s governing body for track and field – the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) – is expected to be charged with ensuring the full utilisation of the track.
In an interview with Stabroek Sport, president of the AAG, Colin Boyce, said that once the track was in place, the next endeavour to be undertaken is for an automatic timing system to be installed at the facility.
The automatic timing system is essential if the athletes are to register official timings on home soil, since as it is, timings would still have to be done manually by technical personnel. According to Boyce, this was not included in the current plan that the ministry has for the track.
Boyce also mentioned that wind breakers will have to be put in place at the facility which will be in close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean as timings clocked during wind assisted races, where the wind exceeds the limit of 2m per second, are not recognized by the world governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federation.
