China is investing US$1.5 billion in infrastructural development in the Caribbean and Barbados will get a piece.
After a tour of the offices of the Barbados Olympic Association in Wildey yesterday morning, Prime Minister Freundel Stuart revealed that both governments were engaged in discussions on the matter.
Stuart said Government recognized that facilities needed upgrading, and that a balance must be struck between how money was spent in other areas and what was allocated for sport in spite of budgetary constraints.
“When I met with the president of China in Port of Spain not too long ago, he announced that the Chinese were committing US$1.5 billion to infrastructure development in the Caribbean and, of course, we have issues relating to our sporting infrastructure and, therefore, we will be making our own claims in that regard.
“Yes, there are budgetary constraints, but we are not allowing ourselves to be daunted by those constraints. We are looking for other avenues through which we can realize the aspirations of our sporting community.”
An overhaul of the 43-year-old National Stadium may also be done.
“There will be input in respect of our National Stadium,”?Stuart said. “It is in desperate need of modernization. We have been having those discussions and in the fullness of time, not too, too, long from now, we should have a very modern National Stadium, something of which we can all be proud again.”
Stuart added with a smile: “We are going to be alright not too far from now.”
But he did not commit to a time frame.
In response to whether legislation could help sports people get time off to train and compete, Stuart said that was not an issue that could be solved with legislation as with time off for jury duty. However, he said employers must have a conscience and understand they were helping the development of sport, which could have a positive impact on their businesses.
Stuart said everyone needed to understand that sport was more than a pastime and there should be flexibility for sportsmen to work and train.
He pointed to the benefits Jamaica enjoyed by having world renowned sports men and women.
“I think the kind of advertisement that Jamaica gets from [champion athletes] Usain Bolt, from Shelly-Ann Fraser [Pryce] and from Veronica Campbell-Brown and all the others, if they had to pay for that kind of advertisement, it would bankrupt the country,” he said.
“So, sportsmen of whatever stripe have a critical role to play in a country’s development. They are very good role models for young people in the country. Their management of victory and defeat are good examples for people who deal with victory in their lives, their personal lives, and defeat in their personal lives.
“They get a good sense that you don’t win all and you don’t lose all, but whether you win or lose, it is how you play the sport that matters.”