Repairs to Leila Robinson netball courts on hold

BY DANIA BOGLE Observer staff reporter

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

A proposed plan to repair the Leila Robinson Netball Courts at Independence Park Complex as part of plans to mark Jamaica's 50th Anniversary of Independence has been thrown into doubt after the Government launched a special audit of the expenditure into the national celebrations.

Last November, then Minister of Sport Olivia Grange had announced plans to repair the courts, which were built in 1971 for the hosting of the World Netball Championships, but which have been steadily deteriorating since.

Last week, however, Grange's successor, Lisa Hanna, annouced that the money being spent warranted an investigation by the Auditor General's Department.

Minister with responsibility for sport, Natalie Neita-Headley, told the Observer the future of any plans would be contingent on the resources available once the audit is through.

"There is an established Inter-ministerial Committee which is looking at all the aspects that will go into this year's celebration — and that includes sports — and all of the activities that were planned by the previous team that was in place are still being looked at to see what will be the priorities to see what we can afford in the context of what resources are available," she said.

"I believe there were a lot of ideas and people threw out a lot of ideas, but as to determining how they were going to be funded and to determine what were going to be the priorities, I think we really have to take a look at that, especially given the financial constraints that we face at this time," Neita-Headley added.

Major Desmon Brown, general manager of Independence Park Limited (IPL), which manages the facilities at the complex, told the Observer it would cost between US$30,000 and $45,000 each to resurface the four netball courts.

The figure would rise significantly if the wooden benches were replaced with aluminium structures.

Meanwhile, Jamaica Netball Association (JNA) president Marva Bernard has continually expressed concern over the state of the courts on which the national teams train and on which local matches are played several times per week.

For several years Bernard has been complaining about the state of the courts and the limited lighting at the outdoor facility.

"They fix everything else so often. I'm not taking away from track and field, but I'm just reinforcing the equity of the repairs," she told

the Observer.

In the meantime, the establishment of a National Sports Museum was also one of the banner plans for the Jamaica 50 Celebration and Neita-Headley said it was a project she wished to carry through.

The minister said she intends to see the pool at GC Foster College up and running during her tenure.

The pool is as old as the 30-year-old institution but has never been functional. For several years plans have been in the works to make it operational and Neita-Headley insists she will be the one to make it happen.

"I'm going to do it. I'm going to get it done because the people and the players in the industry are eager to get it done.

"I think somewhere along the line we have not lacked vision because people have the vision to see it happen. The time is now and it's going to happen with me," she said.