Refurbished community swimming pools by March

DAVID SCARLETT

FOR the past four years, citizens across TT have had the desire to access their community pools, either for competitive or recreational swimming. However, many pool facilities in the nation have deteriorated due to mismanagement and lack of maintenance.

Now, people have something positive to look forward to as the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Sport and Community Development Beverly Reid-Samuel announced that community pools nationwide will be refurbished and reopened by the end of March.

Reid-Samuel addressed Parliament in the presence of several sport executives on Wednesday afternoon and informed the members of the Ministry’s plans for the community pools. She said, “The Ministry (of Sport) continues to build human capital through the development of athletic talent and community life in TT.

“It achieved this mandate through the work of its core divisions and units: the Physical Education and Sport Division, the Community Development Division, the Prime Minister’s Best Village Unit, and the Community Mediation Services Division.

“As part of the mandate of the Ministry, we ensure that citizens, communities and other interest groups have access to quality venues for sporting, social and recreational activities throughout TT.”

The Deputy Permanent Secretary continued, “The Ministry manages several sporting facilities, including the community swimming pools. There are nine community swimming pools under the Ministry’s purview and a tenth is in its design phase.

“There is recreational and instructional swimming offered at the pools, as well as aqua aerobics. Through a strategic partnership with the TT Defence Force, a robust programme of activities are offered at the Maloney, Laventille and Morvant community swimming pools (the Cocoyea pool was recently reopened on January 9).

“Currently the pools at Couva, Siparia, Sangre Grande, Diego Martin and La Horquetta are being refurbished. It is expected that the Siparia, Diego Martin and La Horquetta pools will be reopened by the end of March.”

Reid-Samuel then enlightened the members about the gradual improvement of the facilities, stating that the refurbishments were executed in different stages.

“We have completed phases one and two in some of the pools and are now in phase three for the La Horquetta, Diego Martin and the Siparia pools. There is a schedule of work to be done in terms of a third phase for these pools. However, we are currently engaging a consultant for the Couva swimming pool to address its structural integrity.”

Technical Director of the Ministry of Sport Wilfred Fullerton added to the Deputy Secretary’s statements on the Couva community pool and gave more insight into its development.

“With regards to the Couva pool, the structural assessment was done by the Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago a few years ago, and they required further assessment to be done. They invited the Ministry of Works and Transport to undertake that task.

“The report indicated that a more detailed assessment must be done by use of a more proficient structural engineer at this point. With that information, we underwent the process of getting a structural assessment by a suitably qualified company for the Couva swimming pool. The process is almost completed and we expect that, in one month’s time, a report would be available to us to determine the exact procedure to take regarding the refurbishment or replacement of the Couva swimming pool.”

Reid-Samuel continued her address by stating that the third phase of development will begin in March and the work in this phase will not affect the pools as they are peripheral.

The Diego Martin community pool was also highlighted. In phase three, there will be the overhaul of the pavilion, the kitchenette, CCTV installation, the paving of the car park, (installation) of barbed wires, refurbishment of the security booth, painting of the administrative building and the replacement.

She said, “Right now, we have quite a lot of vacancies in the Physical Education sport division. Specifically, swimming instructors and pool attendants. However, we have begun the recruitment process and we hope that it would be completed quickly. The other three pools that would be coming on board in March would require additional staff along with the existing staff.”

“We also have a survey available to the public regarding what the community would like to see at the pools in terms of the hours and the days (to be opened). So far, people are saying that they want the pools to be opened for longer hours as well as on Saturdays and Sundays.

“With the current staff, we cannot provide these services on weekends, so that is the challenge we are having. The other challenge that we are having is in receiving the release receipts in a timely manner. (To resolve this issue), we have had discussions with the Ministry of Finance and we are working towards improving the efficiency of our requests for releases and their processing.

“The preventative maintenance plan is (also) being implemented and we have had no issues since its inception. There are staff members from the Ministry’s project management unit and, at the pools, we also have staff there who are enforcing the plans – and we have had no issues or challenges. However, there are some areas that we still have to procure certain goods to efficiently operate the pools, but we are on train with that as well.”

She concluded her remarks by saying, “The Ministry of Sport and Community Development remains committed to encourage total participation in sport and the development of athletic talent as we use sport as a driver for community development.”