Grange says athletics success can produce economic, social benefits
With two more gold medals from our athletes at the 2015 IAAF World Championships yesterday, and as can be expected, more respect and adulation from track and field fans around the world, Opposition Spokeswoman on Sports, Information, Gender Affairs, Culture and Entertainment, Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, has released a statement.
It read: “First, let me congratulate our 4×100 men’s and women’s relay teams for their convincing victories which should remove any doubt of Jamaica’s dominance in track and field since 2008. I am sure we can also look forward to outstanding results in the 4×400 relay finals [today].
Each time our athletes win medals we can’t help feeling pride and enjoying the moment, even if it is becoming more like déjà vu. I am happy that the good feeling is not being limited to us in Jamaica, but has spread to Jamaicans in the Diaspora, who share our pride in watching our athletes excel against tremendous social and economic disadvantages.
But, having been a part of this ascendancy since it started in the very Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing in 2008, I want to urge the current government to continue the work I started as Minister of Sports then, during the previous administration, to find suitable ways and means to both encourage and honour our athletes to continue this trend which has been contributing to our social and economic development over the past seven years.
I think that after seven years of global ascendancy, our athletes deserve a proper monument which will help to enshrine this moment in our history and remind future generations of the glory which has resulted.
I am appealing to the Government to recognise the Greenfield Stadium in Trelawny as the centre of sports tourism development in Jamaica. It has long been a white elephant, but has great potential once retro-fitted with proper sporting facilities such as a track of international standards, a basketball court and baseball diamond, as well as a proper dressing room. A surrounding housing development/athletes’ village appropriate for international athletes would also go a far way in growing Jamaica’s sports tourism appeal not just within the Caribbean, but across the world.
At the same time, let us rename the stadium in honour of both Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, creating a programme to maximise the economic and social benefits which will accrue from their exceptional achievements and global dominance of the sport.
It is also important that we refurbish and redevelop previous monuments to Jamaica’s Olympians. Olympic Gardens in Kingston was developed in honour of the pioneers of the sport, including Herb McKenley and Arthur Wint, the men who laid the foundation for Jamaica’s distinguished place in world athletics. This deserves more attention from both the sport and tourism portfolios considering its historical value.
The country is indeed well pleased with the performance of the team overall. The recent victories have not only given Jamaicans at home and in the Diaspora a lot to cheer about and so much to be proud of, but has also opened our eyes to the increasing opportunities for world dominance in sports that are opening up to us.
Let us show our athletes, their coaches and support staff that not only do we fully appreciate their success, but that we are determined to use this success to construct a platform on which we can build a better economy and create a better social environment for our people by properly utilising our rich and unbridled talent.”