It is just days away from the much anticipated annual Interprimary sports meet, otherwise known as THE MINI OLYMPICS.
The collaborative effort between the Ministries of Education and Sports, was brought to the fore on Wednesday 27th March, at a press conference, held at the Premier’s office‘s conference room.
The session was ably chaired by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Mr. Kevin Barrett, who welcomed all present and introduced the persons at the head table.
He noted that the event was set for Wednesday 3rd April, with an opening ceremony at 12.00 noon and the first race set to commence at 1 pm.
Junior Minister in the Ministry of Education, Hon. Troy Liburd, indicated the press conference was called to bring awareness to the mega event and pointed out that such events were put together in order to give the children the opportunity to develop and excel.
He thanked major sponsor, Gulf Insurance and all the other stakeholders, who combine each year to make the event a success story.
Mr. Barrett then officially introduced Mr. Garfield Virgo as the Meet Director for this year.
He in turn, used the opportunity to indicate that he has a working technical committee, comprising of himself; Alsted Pemberton; Joseph Liburd; Shefton Liburd; Trecia Griffin; Carol Liburd-Ward and Raymond Smith.
He stated that in preparing for the event, officials have been trained and additionally, assistance will be received form officials from St. Kitts, on the day.
He instructed all officials to be present at the Mondo track by 11.30 the latest, on the day. He also beseeched the parents to allow the school officials to take care of their children, until the end of the meet.
He further revealed that the two patrons for the meet, are: Lateesha Clarke and Allan Ward.
Mr. Carl Lewis, representative of major sponsor Gulf Insurance, confirmed the continued sponsorship by his company, into the future and indicated that for this year, the head office based in Trinidad will donate $25,000.00, while the local affiliate will contribute $10,000.00. A whopping $35,000.00 in total.
He also revealed that the two representatives from the head office, who will witness the meet this year, are Mr. Henry Francis-Human Resources officer and Mr. Alex Marlin-Financial Advisor.
Director of Sports, Jamir Claxton, brought greetings on behalf of Hon. Eric Evelyn, who was otherwise engaged. He had high commendations for the Ministry of Education, for the early work that has been done in preparing for the event and emphasized the fact that it is meant to be a child friendly meet.
He also commended the two patrons and quipped that he equated being selected as patrons to the prestigious event, was equivalent to being knighted
Principal Education officer, Miss Zahnela Claxton, commended Gulf Insurance for its continued sponsorship and noted that despite the continued banter on Facebook and other media outlets, she wanted to see good competition and team work displayed by the children.
She asked the members of the public to not only encourage the children to win, but to give of their best.
She gave the price for the tickets as:
$5.00 for children up to April 1st and $10.00 thereafter, while adults will pay $15.00.
Mr. Austin Lescott, noted that he was honoured that his security firm has been chosen to be the main security firm on the day and gave an overview of their work at such a big event.
He pointed out that certain potentially dangerous objects have been previously discovered at the gates, during scanning procedures, such as knives; picks; scissors etc. He stated that this time around if such possible weapons are found they will be handed over to the Police, with the intention that relevant charges will be filed against such individuals.
Inspectors Myers stressed on the fact that the Police will be on hand to maintain law and order and will also direct the flow of traffic. He stated that a notice as regards what is required of the traffic on the day, will be shortly publicized.
Members of the press were then allowed to ask questions and one of the questions posed, raised the issue of the debacle that occurred last year with first of all, tied scores, then a change in the results, previously announced.
Mr. Virgo responded that for this year, Verifiers have been put in place to verify all scores before they are publicized.