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| Tuesday, 6 January 2004 |
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Sports | |
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More Sports Officers needed for Nuwara Eliya by Kandy South Group Corr. 'There is a big shortage of sports officers in the Nuwara Eliya district remedial action has to be taken if sports in the area is to be developed and the rural children given an opportunity to reach the top", said Minister of Sports, Health, Cildcare and Probation Services and Women Affairs of the Central Provincial Council Saliya Dissanayake. He was speaking as the Chief Guest at the felicitation ceremony held to felicitate the sportsmen and women from the Central Province who excelled at the 29th National Sports Festival which was held at the Kandyan Art Centre's Auditorium recently. The Minister in a hard hitting speech blamed the bureaucrats for this state of affairs as all his efforts to increase the number of sports officers for the Nuwara Eliya District had failed, though they were aware of the fact that vacancies existed in these cadres. Without competent sports officers how is it possible to improve and develop the standard of sports in the district. Talent must be tapped at the correct stage and if it is not done it would go waste and end up in smoke. It is the country which will be affected by this. He further said there are 28 Divisional Secretariats in Kandy District, 11 in Matale and 5 in Nuwara Eliya. The Nuwara Eliya District has just one sports officer and a District Sports Officer. When it comes to allocation of funds Kandy has the biggest share and Nuwara Eliya is once again given the step motherly treatment and Matale is given more funds. At present there are three vacancies for sports officers which must be filled immediately and adequate funds released if sports is to be developed in Nuwara Eliya. The Minister further lamented that the total funds allocated for the Provincial Sports Ministry for the year 2004 is Rs. five million. This is not sufficient to promote and develop sports activities and compelled to curtail the distribution of sports goods to clubs and schools as this money will be channelled to assist sportsmen and women who have excelled for the Central Province. These sportsmen an women from the middle and lower classes who need assistance for supplementary food and diet. They will have to be recognised and compensated in some way for their achievements and sacfrices made. The Director of Sports Central Province Sunil Munasinghe said that the Province had done extremely well at the 29th National Sports Festival despite the limited resources and they were second only to the Western Province. The sportsmen and woman from the Central Province do not enjoy the same facilities as some of their counterparts. But still they were able to get the better of them in many areas which speaks volumes about their dedication and application and commitment to sports. If they are given better facilities and the necessary training supported by funds, they will certainly perform better. Munasinghe said that statistically Cental Province has performed much than in other years and this year they had won 222 medals made up of 84 gold medals, 64 silver and 74 bronze. Some of the sports in which they showed their prowess in winning Gold medals are swimming (women), hockey (men and women) badminton (women), boxing, judo, athletics, table tennis (men and women) cross country race. Medals, certificates and cash awards were presented to all those who excelled at the National Sports Festival. |
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