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Sports Minister, Stephen Lashley??playing a road??tennis match on the new hard court at Briar Hall. (A. Miller/BGIS)??

Government has spent close to $500,000 within the past year providing a hard court and lights at the Briar Hall Resource Centre and Minister of Sports, Stephen Lashley, says these amenities have been included to empower the communities.

While delivering remarks last evening at the official opening of the hard court at Briar Hall, Christ Church, Mr. Lashley said Rayside Construction Company had recently built the facility to the tune of $125,000, while the lights, which cost about $360,000, were installed a year ago.

Mr. Lashley told the gathering: "We believe that the investment in the lights and hard court are productive investments. It will augur extremely well for us in terms of enhancing our community sports, as well as ensuring that we can build facilities across Barbados that are of a very high standard.

"The National Sports Council will come up, perhaps, with other things that it will do at Briar Hall to develop it. I know they are working continuously on ensuring that the pitch and the grounds continue to be maintained."

He noted that Briar Hall had become a "sought after facility", with visiting cricket teams, utilising the grounds.

Mr. Lashley pointed out that Government’s medium-term strategy was to develop a playing area at Cane Vale. "We are looking at having that ground acquired through the Ministry of Housing and Lands and once that acquisition is completed it will be transformed into one of the pristine grounds in Barbados…," he disclosed.

He expressed the view that the Council’s recently approved National Strategic Plan would assist it in taking Barbados into the realm of having a full-fledge sporting industry. He added that the training of groundsmen was an important policy initiative of the Council and the financial wherewithal was provided to undertake such training.

sharon.austingill-moore@barbados.gov.bb

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