Government has approved a strategic plan for sports in Barbados.
Minister of Sports Stephen Lashley made this disclosure yesterday, noting that Cabinet recently gave the National Sports Council’s (NSC) 2012-2016 Strategic Plan for Sports its stamp of approval.
“This is a significant achievement which sets the tone for the transitioning of sports into a full-fledged industry, thus contributing to the diversification of the Barbados economy,” Lashley said in a release from the Barbados Government Information Service.
In praising the work of the NSC’s board and management in completing the document, Lashley said that over the next five years the focus would be on “ensuring that the sports sector is taken to a new level in Barbados, where it can benefit from many incentives that will cause it to grow.
“That is why the ministry has started work with key partners on a Sports Development Bill, which will be a comprehensive piece of legislation designed to treat sports as the industry that it needs to be,” he said.
He explained that the Strategic Plan was designed to “achieve operational efficiency at the NSC, develop a sports industry, improve sports facilities and their management”.
Lashley also said it would improve sports training and development, develop a high-performance sports strategy, achieve commercialization of sports and solidify financing of sports development.
“What this translates to is improved governance and development of sports on many fronts, leading to improved athlete performance and medal tallies,” he said.
Additionally, Lashley cited Government’s support for the development of motor sports and pointed out that a lot of time had been spent negotiating the terms of the lease of land at Bushy Park.
“I expect that very soon all the legal arrangements will be in place to allow for the Bushy Park Development Project to proceed,” he said. (EZS/BGIS)
