The first-ever multipurpose facility will be constructed in the town of Mabaruma, Region One.
The announcement of the state-of-the-art building was made on Saturday during a community meeting spearheaded by Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr., and Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal.
Construction is expected to start later this year and be completed next year.
“It’s 120 feet wide, 140-145 feet long, and it’s about 36 feet high. So it’s a massive facility with no supporting columns in the centre,” Minister Ramson stated.
A resident, Ralph Williams said he foresees many opportunities being established for the young people when the facility is completed.
“I think the new facility will provide a lot of opportunities since we don’t have such facilities in the region. I think it would build confidence in our athletes, moving forward at the national level,” Williams stated.
Herbert Henry of Kamwatta Village is also pleased with the new project.
“It would be useful to the youths and I think we would try our best to make use of the facility. The indoor games will be a boost to the youths in this area since we never had something like that before,”he stated.
Another resident, Elton Brown said the facility will be “a big plus for us because facilities in this area are very poor. So I want to thank him for that too for the young people,” Brown said.
Minister Ramson explained that President Dr Irfaan Ali’s vision is to provide opportunities to citizens nationwide.
“This is going to be the first of its kind for this region. In fact, it’s going to be the first of its kind that we are building across the country, other than region four…where we have had these indoor facilities that are known as sports halls or gymnasiums. We have had those facilities for decades and no other part of the country has had the opportunity to have that,” Minister Ramson underscored.
The facility, he noted, will allow residents to develop their techniques in different sports including futsal, basketball, and badminton.
“If you don’t have a facility where you could play many other types of sports, how are you going to develop those various types of talent? It will just be the same thing over and over again,” Minister Ramson noted.
He noted that the multipurpose centre is one of five that will be built in Regions One, Three, Seven, Eight, and Nine.
[Extracted from DPI]
