Ministry blanks $1.5m Hampton request
Clydeen McDonald
The 35th edition of the Hampton International Games could be cancelled after the event organisers were blanked funding by the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs. The budget for the Games which was set to take place at the Hasely Crawford Stadium from July 25-26 was estimated at $5,258,920 with the organisers requesting a sum of $1.5 million from the ministry.
However, sources close to the organisation told the Trinidad Guardian that no word has be received from the ministry despite a number of correspondences being sent to the line minister Gary Hunt in April: “We are yet to receive any information from the ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs on the possible funding for the event. We sent a letter to the minister on April 1 requesting a meeting with him but have not received a response to date.”
A copy of the letter dated April 1 which was obtained by the Guardian stated: “Dear Honorable Minister, We seek an “Urgent Meeting” with you to discuss the 35th Hampton International Games and our 1st Relay Festival.
“We were informed by the Sports Company that “No” financial assistance will be given to Hampton International because of the staging of the Caribbean Games (July 12-19). Secondly, according to the Sport Company, we will not get assistance in the future because of the proposed Hasely Crawford Classic which is not even off the ground.”
While the source said it would have been understandable for the ministry to reduce the funding that they previously received if they had hosted the Hasely Crawford Classic and inaugural Caribbean Games, the continued snub is beyond understanding: “If the two other events planned had taken place we could understand the ministry being reluctant to fund the full amount. However, neither of the events took place so there is no real reason why they can’t help us with the hosting of the event.”
The source, also indicated that another letter was sent to the ministry of Sports after the cancellation of the Caribbean Games. Having last year being able to secure the appearance of triple Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt at the meet, the bulk of the budget for this year’s Hampton International Games would have again gone toward exposing local athletes and spectators to international competition.
A sum of $2,268,000 (US $360,000) would have gone toward paying the appearance fees of double Olympic silver medallist Richard Thompson, former world record holder Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay. With a sum of $1,764,000 begin used to bring other T&T Olympians into the country for the meet, with the remaining amount going towards advertisement, cash prizes for events and equipment rental.
