Rawle Toney

With just two weeks and two days remaining before the start of the 49th National Schools Track, Field, Cycling and Swimming Championships which will be held in Linden, the Mackenzie Sports Club ground (MSC), the host venue, will be closed for rehabilitation work.

During November 17-21, some 1,600 persons will traverse the facility daily and so the administration of the MSC is looking to have the venue up and ready.

In an  interview with Stabroek Sport Friday, Secretary of the MSC Rawle Blair said that works will be done on the athletes stand and the ground itself while the existing stands will be repainted and the toilet facilities brought up to standard.

The venue which plays host to one of the biggest sporting events, the Kashif and Shanghai football finals, has been criticized for being run down, forcing the organisers to move the finals to the  National Stadium at Providence.

Meanwhile President of the Guyana Teachers Union Colwin King in an interview with Stabroek Sport Friday said that all systems are in place for the staging of the National Schools Championships. He highlighted that almost all of the districts have successfully finished the team selection process and for those who have not, the  deadline is Thursday, November 6.

On the issue of financing, he said that the GTU will be working with a budget of $10 million which is still to be approved by the relevant authorities.

Security will be a major issue this year since in 2001 when the event was last held in the mining town, thieves broke into the District 11 camp forcing the athletes to prematurely suspend their participation. However, King stated that such a recurrence is not possible since there will be round-the-clock patrols by the police at the athletes village which will be located at the Mackenzie Primary School.