The sports community in Guyana eagerly awaits the 2024 national budget, scheduled to be presented by Senior Minister Ashni Singh of the Ministry of Finance on January 15. NCN Sport reached out to various officials to gather their expectations for the upcoming budget.
President of the Guyana Football Federation, Wayne Forde, expresses optimism, anticipating another historic year in terms of sport allocation.
He believes that football, in particular, will benefit from significant funding.
Former cricket commentator and analyst, Joseph “Reds” Pereira, praises the works carried out by the Sport Ministry with the 2023 allocation.
He highlights the impressive efforts in sports facilities development.
President of the Guyana Golf Association, Aleem Hussain, expects another substantial increase in the budget. He commends the work done on sports infrastructure and emphasizes the importance of athlete development.
In 2023, the sports sector received a historic allocation of 4.3 billion, with a primary focus on infrastructural transformation.
Major projects included a new racquet facility, completion of a synthetic track in Linden, and renovations to the national track and field facility on the West Demerara.
Other initiatives covered the upgrading of community grounds, the start of the State-of-the-art stadium at Palmyra, and the establishment of the National Cricket Academy at Providence.
Guyana also successfully participated in various international events, hosted the Caribbean Premier League finals, and provided funding to teams representing the country in different sports, including the Commonwealth Athletics Youth Games.
The Director of Sports concluded the year by allocating half a million dollars to eight sports associations to support equipment purchases.
The anticipation among sports organizations is high, as they look forward to continued government support and investment in the development of sports infrastructure and programs.