Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) Member of Parliament Johannes Martin has urged the finance minister to allocate enough money to the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service to fight social ills and give future generations hope.
Martin made the call on Wednesday in the National Assembly while motivating his proposal for Parliament to debate the state of sports in the country.
He said the ministry is grossly underfunded, with its allocation consistently being the smallest in the national budget, amounting to around N.dollars 200 million annually. The Namibia Sports Commission, which is tasked with coordinating, controlling, developing and fostering sports receives less than N.dollars 100 million annually, a far cry to its counterparts in other countries like Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola and Rwanda.
‘The ministry needs to be allocated an acceptable budget that can cater for the ever changing needs of sport, and in line with international standards. This is because we can use sport to fight the deeper social problems and complexities that society faces, such as the spread of infectious diseases, drug abuse and crime,’ said Martin.
He added that parliamentarians should remember that sport helps to elevate qualities like discipline, determination, teamwork and a passion for fitness, while at the same time it can be used to generate income from sport related sales and services, boasting international trade through supporting business growth, entrepreneurship and job creation.
‘The Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service should be decentralised. The current state of operation is not in line with government policy, and as such it denies the grassroots much needed exposure to sport. Full sport talent identification and exposure is limited. There is more talent in the regions, villages and not only in cities. We should start investing in athletes from the beginning, at the grassroots level,’ stated Martin.
He further added that when it comes to sport facilities, local structures fall way below accepted international standards, and Namibia needs state of the art facilities which meet international standards because the current situation is unacceptable.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
