The scheduled “public consultation in relation to the Track and Field and Cricket has been postponed in lieu of some discussions that we are having with World Athletics – and scheduled discussions with the Cricket Association,” Minister of Social Development and Education, Ms Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers announced.
She made the announcement at the government press briefing on Monday, May 9. She explained that the public consultation meeting was postponed due to necessary discussions with agencies regarding funding and other track requirements.
The noted that World Athletics is the conduit through which the Ministry is seeking funding for the new athletic track. She said that funding for the track “is the subject of the discussions we are having currently, and we are going to continue those discussions.
“We are looking to see what compromises can be made. Anguilla is not going to get a larger allotment of funds than any other island nation or federation that is bidding for a track [as] there is a standard amount of money that everybody is going to get.”
Minister Kentish-Rogers noted that the amount of money that the islands receive for athletic tracks does not fluctuate based on an individual island’s needs. Her Ministry is also considering other funding sources in addition to World Athletics. However, she has been warned that “the financing of sporting facilities, and other social grants, usually come with a lot of conditions and it takes a long time to match your request with a grant-funder. It would take a considerable amount of time to access grant funding – around three to four years if you are able to be successfully match yourself with a funding partner.”
She added: “We are trying as best as possible to respect everybody’s positioning in relation to these facilities [cricket field and track field] knowing that we have to make compromises, somewhere, in order to be able to develop and advance both track and field and cricket on the island.
“After those discussions, we will come back on line to have a wider general conversation in relation to decisions that have to be made there.”
