CATEGORY: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
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By Wallace J.A

MT.HORNE, St. Andrew’s (June 25, 2006): Today, a beautiful looking pavilion constructed in the rural village of Mt. Horne, St. Andrew’s, was officially opened by the Prime Minister of Grenada, Dr. Keith Mitchell.

To mark the official opening of the facility, two cricket matches were played at the Mt. Horne playing field, also known as Skeleton Park, (because the playing field occupies a portion of land that was once used as a cemetery). The first cricket match was the Starlen Romain’s 20/20 finals between Mirabeau and Mt. Horne and the second match was played between a St. Andrew’s NW team and the Prime Minister’s 11.

The official ceremony commenced later on in the evening and a number of high-profile personalities were in attendance, which included: Hon. Dr. Keith Mitchell, Hon.Yolande Bain-Horsford, Hon. Roland Bhola, Senator Emmalin Pierre, Mr. Starlen Romain and Mrs. Laurina Waldron. Noticeably absent from the opening ceremony was the parliamentary representative for the area, Alleyne Walker. Organizers of the function, however, claimed that a letter was sent to him inviting him to be present at the function but he did not show up.

During the ceremony, over 35 sporting personalities in the area were awarded certificates of appreciation, by Hon. Roland Bhola and Starlen Romain, for their invaluable contribution towards the development of cricket in Grenada. The area has a history of producing excellent cricketers; many of them would have represented Grenada in regional competitions and some of them are still doing so.

The ceremony climaxed with the cutting of the ribbon by Dr. Keith Mitchell to formally declare the Mt. Horne Pavilion open. A cultural show followed, involving the Mt. Horne folk group along with some local calypsonians. The curtain came down on the celebrations around 12 pm.

The day of activities could be referred to as a great success. There was a gradual build up of people throughout the day and by evening time the crowd had swollen to about 350 persons.

The construction of the Mt. Horne ‘Mini Stadium’ has to be viewed from multiple perspectives. The Mt. Horne area, along with the surrounding villages, has a sizeable young population – around 60%. These areas have also produced outstanding sportsmen and sportswomen. The sporting facility can therefore be viewed in the context of the Grenadian Government reaching out to the young people in the area to get them to channel their youthful energies into positive avenues. At the same time, it can bring tremendous social and economic benefits to the communities served by the pavilion. The Sports Minister, Hon. Roland Bhola, made a promise that night-lights will be installed at the facility some time in the future. This will unquestionably be good news for the people in the area.

The Grenadian Government has been trying to promote sports tourism in Grenada and cricket teams visiting Grenada from abroad can come to rural communities like Mt. Horne, which now has a good sporting facility and a wealth of talent, to play friendly cricket matches. Other functions could also be held at this venue.

It would be naïve,however, to think that the NNP administration is not looking at the positive political ramifications associated with the building of this pavilion at Mt. Horne.

The party is no doubt trying to win over the hearts and minds of the people in the area so it can recapture the St. Andrew’s North West constituency from the NDC. The current parliamentary representative for the area, NDC’s Alleyne Walker, although very popular among constituents, is seen by many persons as someone who lacks the ability to bring significant tangible benefits to persons in the constituency. The current NNP’s caretaker for the area, Starlen Romain, is also very popular among constituents and the NNP seems to be making a clear distinction between the two gentlemen in terms of their ability to bring major development to their constituents.




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