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Thursday, 17 March 2011

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Launch of C Games Village plan on Saturday:

CG 2018 a boost for socio-economy - CB Governor

The Hambantota 2018 Commonwealth Games Village plan is to be launched this Saturday (March 19) in Hanbantota said the Sports Minister and Commonwealth Games 2018 co-Chairman Mahindananda Aluthgamage. The Bid Proposals are to be forwarded on May 19.

Minister said that this is a challenge taken by the Government under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa who wanted this to happen in this country. Minister noted that Sri Lanka is a small island but has achieved the many great victories under the present regime. The biggest being the crushing of the world's most brutal terrorism to bring in the peace to the country. This not only brought peace but also helped immensely to hold the on going World Cup without any fear.

The ongoing World Cup has brought the country's image to a high standard with the arrival of all participating teams. For it to happen the Ministry along with SLC played a vital role in completing three International standard stadiums within a period of little over one year. This is clear proof to prove the world that Sri Lanka is ready to take up big challenges. This is one reason why we undertook the task of bidding for the 2018 Games said the Minister. He also said that already the Commonwealth Games 2018 bid proposals are being drafted at the moment with expert foreign assistance. The proposals contain 15 major points to satisfy the evaluation Committee which is set to evaluate these in October and the final decision is due to be announced on November 11.

Once the Proposals are forwarded the Chief Executive Officer Commonwealth Games Secretariat Mike Cooper is to arrive in the island on May 25 and visit Hambantota for his recommendations. By end of June the Evaluation Committee will visit Sri Lanka for their final evaluation.

Though the Games are to be held in 2018 the Ministry plans to complete the construction work and all other requirements two years before the scheduled Games. Meanwhile other plans are also under way to help all sports men and women to prepare for the Games and to bring in many medals for the country.

Central Bank Governor and co-Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Bid Committee Nivard Cabraal said that Commonwealth consists of 71 countries but very few opportunities were given to member countries to host this mega event. We have two main intentions firstly to host the Games and secondly to pave the way for other member countries to make their bids in the future. This we do it to prove the world that our country is always prepared to take huge challenges Sri Lanka has proved this to world in the recent past. We as a nation have to proud of the achievements made during the present regime under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa who is a keen follower of sports. His vision is to give equal opportunities for in the island and with this intention only Hambantota was selected to host the Games. More over the space availability too had to considered when selecting the venue as it needs a large land area for the Games village to and for different sporting fields.

This will be a boost to the area which is fast developing as Hambantota consists of a Port, an air field which will be of immense importance for an event of this magnitude, said the co-Chairman.

Most of the people were not in favor of the Suriyawewa International cricket ground built recently to host the World cup matches saying that it will not attract crowds as it is located far away from Colombo. But the matches went on with massive crowds present for all Games.

Hosting a mega event of this nature is a big challenge and but the commitment of all is sure make it success. We in Sri Lanka must prepare for the Games now itself and that is the reason why we are gear so early.

In the past it was only medal that cae to Sri lanka through sports but with hosting of this mega event can bring in lot of other benefits. Specially it will help the rural folk as they get the opportunity to mingle with other activities connected with the Games. This will also has the chance to gain benefits financially for the people of the area.

On the other side the country is benefit largely when many visitors arrival to this country. On their visits they spend a lot of money (dollars) in this country which also help the local coffers. Every person who arrives here brings in foreign currency that is vital for a country like us.

The Tourism also highly benefit with the Games as Sri Lanka is blessed with many countries consider this as a tourist paradise. With their presence for this event the Hotel industry too get an opportunity to expand their activities to bring in more tourists.

We also have to promote country's tourist destinations in advance for the participants to gain a knowledge about Sri Lanka. For this purpose the Tourist industrialists too have to play a vital role to promote this venture, said the co-Chairman.

Sri Lanka have to spend around 100m for the bid proposal for which the cabinet approval was granted. The amount we spent on this can considered as an investment for the future of Sri Lanka as this has potential to bring in more revenue for our future generations.

He also said that most the Bid Committee and the Ministries engaged will visit some of the countries gain the support for our bid. At present the response shown by member countries are an encouragement for us to gain more support from other member nations.

 

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