A Canadian entity is looking at investing in the northern section of Barbados through a multimillion-dollar sports tourism programme.
Minister of Housing and Rural Development Denis Kellman revealed yesterday that the group was looking at the possibility of building an indoor stadium with an Olympic-size swimming pool, a hockey field and facilities for baseball at North Point, St Lucy.
“I know they are working feverishly on it and are looking at how they can raise the funds,” he told the SATURDAY?SUN in an interview.
Noting that the proposal was not yet concluded so he would not wish to name the potential investors, the minister, who is also the Member of Parliament for St Lucy, said it would be an ideal boost for the north as a centre of community activity and for Barbados as a whole in attracting more North American visitors.
“One of the reasons we’ve not been able to attract a large number of American tourists is because we do not really have anything to bring them here. After the United States naval base left [in 1979], they should have taken my foolish advice and started a baseball programme since the climate conditions are perfect for it. Unlike the British who come here and know they have football and cricket, we have nothing for visitors from North America,” he pointed out.
“The numbers of American tourists were greater than the British here in the 1970s, and those would have declined after the naval base was decommissioned. It shows that people are not obligated to come to our country; we have to do something to get them to come.”
Kellman said he had been in discussion with the Canadian investors for more than a year, having met them via a social media network and then hosted one of them at his office in Moon Town, St Lucy, recently. He also noted a keen interest in the project by Minister of Sports Stephen Lashley, and the fact that Barbados needed another competitive swimming facility beside the 24-year-old Aquatic Centre at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex.
The time frame for the sports tourism project at North Point depends on how soon the Canadians can raise the funds, he said.
Seeing the investment as an extension of the community tourism practised in his constituency, Kellman said whenever he heard tourism players describe the Barbadian product as “stale”, it sent a strong message for him to create activities and open new attractions in rural Barbados.
“If visitors are saying we need to improve our product, it is a message to me that the sector must have a base – a mass base. When you have a mass base and build it out, you achieve a lot more . . . similar to what I’m doing with North Stars and Moon Town and with community tourism overall. And I know the Minister of Tourism [Richard Sealy] is on board but I’d like to see a lot more people on board and appreciate what community tourism is doing for Barbados in Heywoods, Maynards, Colleton Gardens, Half Moon Fort and St Elmo’s Terrace (all in the north).”
Kellman said rural development was not just about roads and houses, but creating the infrastructure for housing, tourism, agriculture, industry and culture.
He therefore urged Barbadians to stop “bad-mouthing” projects like the proposed North Point initiative, Four Seasons, Almond and Pickering.
“By bad-mouthing the Pickering project, it turned away some very good investments. I have met with some investors on more than one occasion and they were a bit worried that they might be getting involved in a political battle, and I don’t think that says a lot for our country,” he said.
“I know for a fact that Four Seasons would have suffered from the same thing, and if we do not watch ourselves, the same will happen with Almond,” Kellman said.