MPs criticises absence of community facilities

Several new community resource centres are to be built across the island in the coming years as Government seeks to implement a number of youth development and sporting programmes.

This was disclosed on Thursday by Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment officials, after some Members of Parliament expressed frustration at not having community development and resource facilities. They were also adamant about the need for existing pavilions to be retrofitted for multi-purpose use and be open on evenings; for school halls to be made available for some development activities, and for more to be done generally to encourage sporting clubs to stay functioning.

MP for St James Central Kerrie Symmonds raised the issue on Thursday evening when Parliament resumed with officials from the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment in the Well as discussions on the 2022/2023 Estimates continued.

While urging ministry officials to look at sports in a more developmental way and “not make sport at sports”, Symmonds expressed concern that his constituency did not have a community resource centre despite years of requests.

He said he has had to reach out to private sector officials to help him set up a resource centre in the form of a retrofitted container on a playing field.

“My constituency is one which has no community centre at all . . . and having represented that constituency now for 20 years I think I have held my peace long enough and I can now speak my mind about that. I consider it to be a disgrace, and I think the people of St James Central have been treated exceptionally badly over two decades,” said Symmonds.

Other MPs subsequently raised similar concerns about the absence of community resource centres, about dilapidated community centres and lack of space for various sporting activities.

Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment Charles Griffith gave the assurance that work would be done to ensure community centres were established in areas where there were none at present.

He also stated that some youth development programmes were on the cards and that careful consideration would be given to ways of promoting more sporting activities across the island including those designed to help the country earn more foreign exchange.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment Yolande Howard disclosed that “over the last few years” some sites have been identified for new community resource centres to be built, but a lack of funding had hampered the progress.

“We did successfully attain approval and funds from the Ministry of Finance to build a new centre at the Bathsheba location. We have gotten permission as well to build a centre in Bridgetown in the area of Pondside, Bay Street, near the London Bourne community. We are looking at other sites as well,” she said.

She said the facility to be built at the Bay Street location will allow for a range of sporting and training activities and will be used as a model for future resource centres.

Howard said a location in St James Central is yet to be identified for a community resource centre.

Pointing out that St Thomas was also without a dedicated community resource centre, Howard disclosed that the old District “D” police station in that parish had been earmarked for such a purpose.

“As far as is possible with the existing facility and building space we will try to have as many activities as possible so it is in line with our new focus on multipurpose,” said Howard.

She disclosed that officials have also been looking at ways to build out some of the smaller pavilion.

She said on a recent site visit to the Greens Community Centre in St George, which is shared by the National Sport Council, a space had been identified for road tennis courts.

“The whole idea is to develop facilities that can provide spaces for several types of activities to occur,” said Howard.

She said she was hoping that a draft paper that was prepared some years ago, would be approved in the upcoming financial year that would address concerns regarding the management of the resource centres including the time they closed.

Explaining the rationale behind the absence of community resource centres in some communities, Howard said setting them up initially was based on population density.

In addition to calling for the community centres to be multipurpose, Minister of Home Affairs and Information Wilfred Abrahams also suggested that officials look at replacing the public liability insurance with a different kind of insurance that would eliminate the need for payment each time the facility was used. marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb