(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Hon Winston Williams, Minister of Sport, Antigua and Barbuda has called on the Caribbean Community to organise a Conference of Sport Ministers to discuss the future of Regional Sport Development within the Community
Minister Williams, who was speaking at the Presentation Ceremony of the Fourth Annual 10k Road Race held at the Antigua Recreation Ground on Sunday, 29 June 2008, said regional Ministers of Sport needed to come together to discuss Sport related issues and to make some critical policy decisions on, and direction of CARICOM Sport Development. He called on CARICOM Secretariat staff to spearhead the convening of such a meeting.
Sport, he said was a critical part of national and regional development and “if Sport development is promoted and sustained adequately, then the Region would not need to spend so much money on health.” The Minister also called on CARICOM Heads of Government and the Regional Private Sector to support Sport and to give the Region’s people “a chance for a healthier lifestyle, as a healthy Region is a wealthy Region”
The Fourth Annual CARICOM 10K Race ended on Sunday with Pamenos Ballentyne of St Vincent and the Grenadines and Alika Morgan of Guyana maintaining their hold on the CARICOM Championship Trophy for the fourth time since the inception of this Regional event staged to mark the Signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas. Jewel Lewis and Tenijah Morris both of Antigua and Barbuda won the Junior and Youth categories respectively.
In announcing the winners, Dr Morella Joseph CARICOM Secretariat’s Programme Manager, Human Resource Development observed that this year’s staging was the second largest in the history of the 10K Race (Saint Lucia being the largest) and commended the team from Antigua and Barbuda Athletic Association (ABAA) for an excellent job done in organising the logistics of the Meet.
She congratulated the winners and encouraged the athletes to get involved in their countries’ activities to observe the impending First CARICOM Wellness Day on 13 September 2008.
Over sixty athletes representing ten Countries – Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago – participated in the Fourth Annual CARICOM 10K Road Race.
The annual 10K Run was sponsored by ABI Financial Group, Anjo Wholesale, Scotia Bank, Digicel, Hadeed Motors, and Sagicor was staged under the theme: Run for Life…Exercise your right. Both champions will be presented to the Twenty-ninth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community set to open on Tuesday 1 July.
