Cudjoe: 13 community centres in the works

The Ministry of Sport and Community Development is working on 13 community centres in this fiscal year, the line minister, Shamfa Cudjoe said on Thursday.

She was speaking at the sod-turning on the site of the old Surrey Village community centre, where a new state-of-the-art centre will be built. She said the new centre will cost $11 million.

Since 2015, the government has delivered 45 new and 57 refurbished centres, totalling 102 community centres, at a cost of $148 million, said Cudjoe. She added the Surrey Village project would be completed in 2021. She said the old structure, which was demolished within the past five years, was the “heart” of the community for 47 years.

The centre will sit on 8,000 square feet of land and will be upgraded with features such as a computer laboratory, training rooms, an auditorium, modern lighting and audio system, a gym, washroom and laundry areas and a training kitchen.

Cudjoe said community centres are the “most sought after” projects for the ministry. “Every week I receive at least three letters from members of Parliament (or) community groups requesting that a community centre either be built or refurbished, so I am pleased to deliver and mark the spot where we are going to deliver to the people on Surrey Village.”

She said the recent opening of the Diego Martin community centre marked the 45th new centre to be completed by the ministry.

Minister of Public Utilities and MP for Lopinot/Bon Air West Marvin Gonzales said his constituents have been waiting a long time for the project to get off the ground and he was happy to finally deliver. “As members of Parliament, representing people, occasions like these really bring a sense of fulfilment and purpose.”

Gonzales said “heroes and leaders are born” in small communities like Surrey and acknowledged Supernovas Steel Orchestra represented at the sod-turning by leader Amrit Samaroo, the son of the late Jit Samaroo, the band's founder and celebrated pan arranger. He said the old centre was where the orchestra first began. Cudjoe said Government granted land to the panside, not too far from the centre, to build its own facility.

Gonzales also said his next order of business as MP is to restore the Lopinot historical site which he said has been out of use. “The people of Lopinot are very proud and crying out for it to be restored (and) I want to dedicate my first five years in office to ensure the site is restored to its former glory.”

He said he is also working on a cultural centre for Mausica.