Ask The Minister: Matters Of Public Interest 

A Chat With Dayasiri Jayasekara, Minister Of Sports 

Some of our readers I’m sure, will be very interested in getting to know the progress of the present government and the future plans of the Ministers. With the endeavour of creating awareness in this regard, The Daily Mirror Life met up with some Ministers and asked them a few questions. Their answers will be carried in this weekly column. This week, we speak to Dayasiri Jayasekara, Minister of Sports. 

What new steps have you taken to uplift sports in our schools? 

We will be conducting a talent identification programme at school level for 375,000 kids and of that 50,000 will be selected. These selected children will be put into zonal coaching camps and tested  scientifically to check their capabilities and to identify what sport they will  be good at and then they will be trained accordingly. Our plan is to train them for the 2024 Olympics as there is enough time to get them ready for that. They will have to participate in competitions in Sri Lanka and overseas as preparation. 

One of the problem schools are facing is the shortage of 5,100 PTIs. We will be recruiting more PTIs and will ensure that this problem is solved soon. 

How can children be encouraged to participate in more physical training activities? 

Children are focusing only on education now. We want to add a few periods of PT into the school curriculum, like there used to be when we were young. We will have a marking system for term tests, and also at Ordinary Levels  and Advanced levels so that all children are encouraged to participate in some sport. A recent WHO report stated that there is a huge increase in High Bolood Pressure and Diabetes in youngsters. So it’s important to encourage children to participate in some sport. 

What’s happening with the Sugathadasa Stadium – the tracks were cracked and broken, is it repaired now? 

This started breaking up very soon after it was made. As I got this appointment I had many discussions with the people concerned who is a local contractor with foreign collaboration and tried to sort out this matter, but although they promised to attend to it nothing has been done so far. Now legal action will be taken. The guarantee period is till 2017 so these people are delaying it till the guarantee period is over. 

There are so many problems with the stadium, toilets are broken, roofs are leaking and lots of repairs to be done. It will cost Rs. 660 million to redo the whole Sugathdasa Stadium and get it to proper standards. Repair of main arena will be completed by end July. 

Volleyball is our national sport. In the rural areas it’s very popular and many youngsters play the game very seriously. Why is there no sign of it ever reaching the level of cricket? 

The problem is because we are not up to the South Asian standards. Recently I was at a tournament where 4000 volleyball clubs participated. We are going to have a young school level pool of players as well as a national pool and start preparing them for 2017. Our players are very good in beach volleyball. The women’s team has a good chance of winning medals at international level. 

Coaches giving athletes supplements, is this regulated? 

This is a big problem and I am looking into. At present, there is no systematic method for this. SLADA together with the sports medicine unit are looking into this matter. We will be setting up a committee to look into this and stop some of the supplements. We need to see that they take only the proper supplements to develop the body. 

What about the lack of discipline in school sports, like rugby? Are these suspensions taken seriously? 

This is a serious issue and I’m taking very strict action in this regard. Schools and OBAs should take responsibility for issues related to indiscipline. We have to ban all these schools from playing or we have to ban the spectators from coming into the grounds. Discipline on the grounds is of utmost importance. In the past two to three years incidents of indiscipline has increased. The spectators are also getting involved now. The Rugby Union needs to take these tournaments into their hands and take control of this situation.  There should be quality umpiring on the grounds otherwise the spectators try to take matters into their hands. 

Do you have any plans for tracks, pools and stadiums out of Colombo? What about the North and East? 

The past regime has done a really good job in constructing provincial grounds and district grounds. In the North – we have started constructing a provincial ground in Kilinochchi. We will be having this year’s national sports festival in Kilinochchi, Jaffna in October. The Doreappa stadium has also been done up.  In the Eastern Province there’s a 400m track, pool facilities and all the facilities needed for athletes and sportsmen. I have started construction of the Matale and Kegalle grounds and indoor stadiums in places where they can’t play outside. Now every district has a ground and all the facilities. 

Why aren’t the authorities funding, training and developing our sports personnel such as swimmers, divers, weightlifters, and boxers etc. who are extremely talented, to reach their full potential in the international arena? 

We have huge issue regarding this because the federations are not serious. I have told them to send me a five year plan. We are willing to fund the federations but they are still not coming up with a proper plan. They need to plan for National and International events, prioritise who is going to represent the sport and have a pool. Then we are willing to fund it. Without this support plan from the federations we can't proceed with anything. 

In your opinion, has Susanthika been given the recognition she deserves for achieving the unthinkable? 

We have put a cabinet paper to get Susanthika Jayasinghe and Sriyani Kulawansa to the Ministry on an advisory basis. They will probably have to go around the country and help athletes. 

What are the most important decisions you make as the Minister of Sports with regard to the Cricket Board in Sri Lanka? 

We had the election in a very transparent manner after 8 years. I said they do not need to have interim committees. The team has assumed duties and they are working hard to form proper cricket teams. I am satisfied with the present members of the Cricket Board. We didn’t have a proper national coach and now we have got one. Our batting lineup is extremely good now, but we have to develop the bowling lineup. We need to have provincial level tournaments for our cricketers. When I spoke to some cricketers they told me that they have never played on an international ground so we have to let the cricketers have the opportunity do that. 

What are your plans for the Magampura Cricket Stadium? 

This is a mess. This is a 2.4 billion liability to the cricket board. Sri Lanka Cricket Board is in debt because of this Magampura Stadium. It’s abandoned and can’t be used. We are trying to see the possibility of using this as an academy. Running expenses and maintaining this ground is very high so it’s not practical to use it. For example there are about six lifts. Even in Lords there is only one lift. 

Politics and sports - how can sports be used as a means to transcend cultural differences and bring people together? 

Events such as the National Sports Festival happening in October, will strengthen our relationship with all communities. We will be asking the Tamil athletes to look after the visiting Sinhala and Muslim athletes. There will be 5000 people of different communities gathered in one place. This will make a great impact on our society. 

Before this event, we will be having a food festival in Jaffna with a mix of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim food. During this event there will be matches with school children participating. Each team will comprise a mix of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim children. 

DID YOU KNOW? 

· He used to sing well from the time he was a child. 

· He has about eight of his own songs of which he introduced one with video to Derana recently. 

· He has a son who attends St. Thomas’ College ML and a daughter who attends Ladies College. 

· His wife is the daughter of the late Dr. Kalasoori Panibharatha the Veteran Kandyan Dancer. 

· He is the brother in law of world famous dance maestros Channa and Upuli Wijewardene. 

Questions for the Ministers can be emailed to [email protected]