Georgetown : The National Synthetic Track, located at Leonora is now open to athletes for training.
Minister of Culture Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony said “The track itself can be used by athletes for training, while those civil works continue….we think that once people start using it we will start seeing a difference in how people are performing because a number of our athletes were not being exposed to synthetic services before,” Minister Anthony noted.
He said that the marking of the lanes will bring the ground works of the track to a close, and the ministry is now working on completing the stands within another six weeks.
The club house is also under construction, and Minister Anthony said that works on this facility will take much longer; however, the ministry is working closely with the contractors to close that particular contract.
The track will be ready to use for international events once the certification is completed by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) within another two weeks.
Meanwhile, Matthew Cohen, survey and line marker of IAAF said that despite the inclement weather, the work was completed in a timely manner and the all-weather track would be ready for international events soon.
Speaking on maintenance, he said that the local grounds men can easily maintain the track and keep the grass low, and depending on how much the track is being used, it can last up to 15 years.
The synthetic track facility sits on 30 acres of land and has a football field that is a minimum expectation of a FIFA football match.
A total of $560 million has been spent on the facility thus far. The estimated cost to complete the entire facility is $1.4B.
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