Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) Patron Kit Nascimento is once again questioning the slothful manner in which the Ministry of Culture, Youth, & Sport is approaching a request from the rugby fraternity and the Protected Areas Commission (PAC) for support in the upgrade of the playing facilities in the National Park.
Although this publication published an article in the Sunday May 26 edition where an anonymous source within the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sport said that the request was to be placed before parliament, Nascimento, in a letter to the editor of this newspaper, expressed his surprise that the requests for support had to be brought before that forum.
In the letter, Nascimento states, “I was astonished to read in the Sunday Stabroek Sport, May 26, 2024, that a straightforward request from the Rugby Union to the Protected Areas Commission (PAC) to rehabilitate the changing rooms and showers at the National Park Rugby Ground to enable the hosting of an international rugby match and subsequently made to the Ministry of Culture, Youth, & Sport for support by the Protected Areas Commission (PAC) is currently before Parliament and awaiting approval.”
It should be noted that attempts to contact and solicit a response from Minister Charles Ramson Jr. on this issue have proved futile.
According to Nascimento, the upgrades and renovations to the facilities and the rugby field would not surpass the $1,000,000 mark.
The upgrades and renovations are duly important as Guyana is due to host the Trinidad & Tobago Rugby Football Union (TTRFU) on June 22 in the Southern Caribbean round of the Rugby Americas North (RAN) Qualification for the World Rugby Cup Championships.
While there have been separate requests from the GRFU and the PAC to the Ministry and Minister, there have been no forthcoming responses other than the acknowledgement of receipt of those requests.
While Nascimento first wrote Minister Charles Ramson on May 14, more than two weeks ago, the PAC submitted their request for support shortly after.
However, to this date, a clear decision for that support has yet to be made. “At the time I write this letter, the Protected Areas Commission still awaits a decision from the Ministry of Sport. We are now 23 days away from the tournament, and the union will have to inform Rugby Americas North very shortly as to its preparation for hosting the tournament,” Nascimento stated in his letter.
On the other hand, while Nascimento is dismayed at the hesitancy of the Ministry in supporting the GRFU in this upcoming venture, he was quick to point out that “Guyana was able to successfully participate in the Grenada Rugby World Sevens Championship Tournament in November last year with the full and generous financial support of the Ministry of Sport, along with the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) and private sector company.”
The Green Machine managed to pull off a last-gasp 24-23 win in match one of the two-game qualifying series against the host nation, Trinidad and Tobago, at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Nascimento further warned of the consequences of Guyana not being able to host the return fixture, which could ultimately result in monetary sanctions and possible disqualification from competing in future tournaments.
