Kingston, 9 December 2022 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, opened a multipurpose sports court and gazebo at Papine High School on Friday (today).

“I am pleased that you have been blessed with a new multipurpose court,” said Minister Grange. “Facilities like these help athletes to develop their skills, improve their performance, and help to build a culture where the majority of our people will regularly participate in sports.”

The sports court was built to facilitate netball, volleyball and basketball. It cost J$5.7M.

Minister Grange said: “The Government has been providing these multipurpose courts through the Sports Development Foundation. As Minister, I’ve been working to provide schools across the island with upgraded facilities as part of our programme to build sports from the grassroots to the elite level.”

Minister Grange said that with the installation of sports facilities at schools across the country, local federations “now have an opportunity to work with schools to train and develop our young students; and I call on the federations to give support to our schools.”

Construction of the gazebo was a 2019 National Labour Day Project which focused on child safety.

The gazebo, which cost J$2.9M, has a ramp for wheelchair access and has space for the staging of events, a study area, and can be used for classes.

Minister Grange encouraged the students to make full use of the facilities.

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