Tancoo: Sport, tourism to go hand-in-hand

The government proposes to open ten new community centres for fiscal 2026, as announced by Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo during his 2025/26 national budget presentation at the Red House on October 13.

"Ten new community centres with full accessibility will open in fiscal 2026," Tancoo said, pointing to the importance of sport in driving unity and national pride. To this end, Tancoo said rehabilitation of pools in Biche, Maloney, Morvant, Rio Claro and Tunapuna will continue, to go along with upgrades to national stadia, though the specific stadia were not identified.

During his presentation which lasted just under three and a half hours, Tancoo touched on the role sports could play in boosting the tourism sector.

"Tourism remains a hybrid sector. We will develop new products in the medical, sport and cultural tourism sectors and facilitate the completion of hotels," he said.

Tobago certainly hasn't been left out of the plans and the finance minister said the Tobago House of Assembly intends to leverage sport to diversify tourism, with a new sport tourism unit.

"Tobago is also focusing on skilled development, vocational training, building an amateur to professional sports pipeline and youth internship programmes," he said. "The sport development work programme aims at monetising sport and outdoor recreation and catalysing investment in sports infrastructure."

Apart from being another avenue to drive tourism, Tancoo pointed to community initiatives and projects which the government believes will improve the sector. Tancoo did not disclose the total sum to be allocated to sports for fiscal 2026, Meanwhile, when pressed for comment at the post-budget press conference, Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Phillip Watts said the allocation and the finer details and plans under his ministry will be revealed during the budget debate on October 17.

Tancoo said the opening of new community grounds and the facilities at the Elite Athlete Gym, which was unveiled at the National Racquet Centre, Tacarigua in August, will go a long way in enhancing performance and health, while also referring to the planned refurbishment of youth development centres in Chatam, Chaguaramas and El Dorado.

The finance minister also revealed that the Samuel Badree Cricket Academy at UTT, San Fernando will serve as a national training base. However, he didn't go into specifics regarding the role of the Samuel Badree Cricket Academy with the country's national cricket teams.

Contacted via WhatsApp, Badree, a two-time International Cricket Council T20 World Cup winner with the West Indies, turned commentator, said, "unfortunately, I cannot comment at this time."

GETTING THE SPORT AND CULTURE FUND BACK ON TRACK

Tancoo noted that under Section 23A of the National Lotteries Act, instant lottery surplus is paid into the Sport and Culture Fund. However, he says this hasn't been beneficial to the government in recent years, often leaving the coffers of the Sport and Culture Fund barren.

"The instant lottery has not been profitable, resulting in some years having no deposit into the sport and cultural fund," he said. "To combat this, deposits into the Sport and Cultural Fund will be set and approved by the minister of finance and will not be subject only to instant lottery surplus. This, together with the introduction of a hard and fast budget by the minister of finance, will allow greater control over NLCB's sponsorships and will allow greater financial management of the Sports and Cultural Fund."

During his presentation, Tancoo said the estimated revenues generated from illegal lotteries are upwards of $9 billion annually, hampering the NLCB's profit margins as it earns almost $3 billion per year. He promised a crackdown and harsher penalties for illegal gaming houses.

On a lighter note, Tancoo also used the platform to send best wishes to TT's men's football team ahead of their 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier away to Curacao in Willemstad on October 14.

"I also want to use the opportunity, as I'm reminded by my Prime Minister, to also wish the TT football team the best of luck as they represent our country tomorrow (October 14) in their match."