Central Province could be the best in sports

S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen Kandy Sports Correspondent

Our target is to make Central Province as the best province in the island and to this, sports is included and we are working towards this objective, said the Chief Minister of the Central Province Sarath Ekanayake.

He made these observations when he declared open the Central Province Sports Festival organised by the Ministry of Sports of the Central Province which is currently worked off at the Bogambara Stadium in Kandy.

Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake said that the Central Province has talented sportsmen and sportswomen especially in the rural areas and their talent must be tapped.

Recently we sent 62 coaches and sports officers to be trained in India and they will in turn train the sportsmen and sportswomen in the districts of Kandy, Matale and Nuwara Eliya in the Central Province and reach a larger area. This was done for the first time and a first step towards making Central Province as the best province in sports in the country.

He said that a massive sports complex is under construction at Digana in Rajawella in the ground which was earlier owned by the Mahaweli Authority.

Already over Rs 60 million has been spent on that project and once completed all sports could be played in that ground which is centrally located in the mid country dry zone and the climatic condition is different to that of Kandy.

He said that though the Central Provincial Council has been in existence for over 20 years, it has no ground of its own.

The Bogambara stadium does not belong to the Central Provincial Council.

Therefore the grounds at Digana has to be completed. Also coming up and almost nearing completion is the Pallekelle Cricket Stadium owned by the Sri Lanka Cricket where three World Cup Cricket matches is scheduled to be staged in February next year.

These two grounds are just a few kilometres apart.

Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake said that at the last National Sports Festival Central Province finished runner-up to Western Province by just three gold medals.

Our sportsmen and sportswomen should put up a better performance to make amends and win more medals to bring the national championship title to Central Province.

They have the potential and they must strive hard to achieve this objective.

Also gracing the occasion were Minister of sports of the Central Province Ms Anusha Sivaraja, Provincial Councillor Manel Bandara, Secretary to the Ministry of Sports and Industries Ms Shirani Weerakoon and Director of Sports of the Central Province H.G. Ariyarathe.