Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports, Charles Ramson Jr., is pleased with the sector’s allocation but revealed that much more is to be expected from the 2021 budget for sport.
“It’s is a fair sum for where we are at the moment, it’s a good start but there is a lot more to come next year,” said Ramson Jr., yesterday.
During the recent presentation of the Estimates and Expenditure for the Fiscal Year 2020 by Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill, it was disclosed that some $2.7 billion has been allocated for Culture, Youth and Sports, of which $805.3 million is for sports.
Additionally, Edghill noted that $185 million has been allocated for the National Sports Commission to accelerate works on the synthetic tracks in Regions 6 and 10 as well as the purchase of sports gear and ground enhancements.
Ramson Jr., pointed out that this year’s allocation was superior than those of the past three years.
The minister, who will give his budget presentation to the National Assembly on Thursday, told this publication that he is satisfied that the government has and continues to recognize the importance of sport to national development. Under the previous administration, the Sports Ministry fell under the umbrella of the Ministry of Social Cohesion, now that it has returned to where it belongs, Ramson promised that sports will have a greater visibility and impact.
Edghill had disclosed that in the area of sports, the new administration will look to revitalize the national sports programme, “while simultaneously reconfiguring how we undertake them in the context of the pandemic, this year we are going to be undertaking initial work on mini sports stadiums – in Regions 2, 6 and 10, and the Guyana-China friendship Park,” he had said.
The allocations are part of the 2020 Emergency Budget, which was in excess of $329B.
