Linares: The Best Games And The Best Concerts - “We’re Ready To Do More”
Steven Linares today held a press conference to discuss GSLP/Liberal plans for the sports and culture should they be elected to Government on October 17th.
SPORT
Mr Linares said: “As you all know we have invested a lot of time and effort on building world class facilities. Many are now completed and they will all be completed before the end of the year. In order to maximise the benefit local sports men and women can derive from these facilities, we plan to now engage all sports governing bodies and focus on the development of a sport by sport development plan to cover the next 4 to 6 years.
“The GSLP Liberals have supported sports in Gibraltar for the last 8 years and it is something I am very proud of. Today, we renew our pledge to local sports and restate our commitment to support the governing bodies in their pursuit of their development plans.
“We will continue investing in the facilities at the Bayside Complex. In respect of the MUGA, we will procure a semi-rigid covered structure to allow our sports men and women to be able to use this space all year round. We will install a sprung wooden floor and this area will become the home of Netball in Gibraltar. We will also replace the Astro-turf at the Hockey Pitch which has served us for many years but now needs replacing.
‘The GSLP Liberals have invested in the development of sports in all sectors of the community. There are many sports we play and we play them as ONE community. We all love sports, and the GSLP Liberals are committed to sports for all, which is why we have invested in the first of its kind and simply fantastic Special Olympics Complex.
“Three years ago, we provided purpose-built premises for the Stay and Play programme and it has proved so successful that we are now committed to building an extension to deal with the demand. We will do this by adding a further extension to the Stay and Play Area.
“Parasports in Gibraltar has never existed as such. As part of our ‘Sports for All’ commitment, we are keen to give parasports a kick start in Gibraltar. We will appoint a Community Development Officer for parasports within the GSLA. This will open the doors to all those with physical disabilities in Gibraltar and it will also give us the opportunity to host more international sports competition in our accessible World Class Facilities.
CULTURE
“In culture, we have now settled plans to deliver the National Theatre within the complex of the John Mackintosh Hall. It has been a disappointment for me that, for a number of practical reasons, we have not been able to deliver on the National Theatre in the last eight years. We are now determined that this will be delivered in the next term of office so that we can finally have a National Theatre to be proud of. The solution we have come up with means that there will be little to additional running cost, given that there is already a full complement of staff at the John Mackintosh Hall.
“This will be a win-win situation since we will have our long-awaited theatre and it will be run by the great professionals from GCS who are currently now running the Hall.”
“During our time in Government we have given a total of 51 Clubs and Associations premises as we promised in our manifesto of both 2011 and 2015. We will build a complex that will give us the opportunity to give even more premises to Clubs and Associations.
“As we promised in our previous manifesto we have built a Girl Guides’ Hut in the Upper Rock which is now complete. We will also be investing to totally refurbish the Governors Lookout. Our Scouts Movement do great work with our young people. This refurbishment will be ready on time to have the Gibraltar Euro Jamboree in 2021. It will also provide rooms for their bands.“
Steven Linares concluded the press conference: “We have a proven track record of delivering what we set out to do. On 17th October, in order to allow us to deliver on our exciting new plans, please vote for the 10 candidates of the GSLP/Liberals. Only by going out to vote for us, can you guarantee that our commitment to you.”
The Leader of the GSLP Liberals said: “I am so very proud of the work that Steven Linares has done on sporting facilities and on culture. It is remarkable and a testament to his ability to deliver. He deserves recognition for that work and for his ideas for the future which will be supported by all our sports men and women and by all those involved in the cultural life of our nation.”
