WASTE OF A PERFECTLY GOOD FACILITY

In recent times track meet organisers have had to be scrambling trying to find venues to hold development meets in suitable venues.

The Stadium East is under repair, and the national stadium is also due for repair soon. The track at GC Foster College is also in a very bad state. Meanwhile, up in Sligoville, St. Catherine, not that far from GC Foster, a ‘brand new’ facility sits idle overrun by weeds.

The facility, built a few years ago by the Chinese government at a cost of US$3 million, is a perfect example of how myopic our leaders have been. The complex has facilities for basketball, football, and a six-lane running track that could have been used now to host a few development meets this year and in the years to come, but as of right now, it just sits there gathering dust.

Wouldnt such a facility built in a more strategic location be more beneficial to many more people? One would have to ask the Member of Parliament KD Knight since the complex was his idea. I am sure meets could be held there but I doubt if it is even open to the public.
The last time I passed there the gates were chained and padlocked so I doubt anyone could get in except perhaps to steal something.

The thing is we dont even see or hear of any attempts to make use of the facility. Perhaps schools in St Catherine could stage track meets, football matches, and even basketball games there.

Its instances like these that make one understand why more wealthy countries are reluctant to do much to help us.

Why isnt the facility being used? If we did not have a vision for the complex why get the Chinese to build it there as opposed to, say, Manchester. If it was built in a more central location – Kirkvine, for example – it would have been fully operational and athletes, schools and organisations could have made good use of it.
But as it is right now, it’s yet another white elephant on the Jamaica landscape, US$3million down the drain.

What a pity. What a tragedy.

If someone would have told me that in a country where the people are so passionate about sports, there is a sports complex that is on its way to ruin even though its never been used, I would have had a hard time believing.
But, this is Jamaica today – a place where truth is much stranger than fiction.