Cabinet has approved allocating $17 million in the next budget year to improve sports facilities across Antigua and Barbuda, with $1 million earmarked for each constituency, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said Saturday.

Speaking on the Browne and Browne Show, Browne said the programme would repair deteriorating facilities, expand existing amenities and add courts where needed.

“The Cabinet … just agreed last Wednesday to make $17 million available for the next budgetary year,” he said. “For every single constituency, we’re going to spend a million dollars to upgrade the facilities.”

Browne said the decision followed concerns about the condition of community sporting grounds and courts.

“Many of the sporting facilities have deteriorated,” he said. “So we’re going to spruce them up and even expand them.”

The improvements could include additional tennis and basketball courts, depending on what individual communities lack. He did not provide a constituency-by-constituency project list or a construction timetable.

Browne linked the investment to efforts to improve young people’s health, encourage discipline and reduce crime by providing more opportunities for organized and recreational sport.

“We see that too as part of our crime-fighting strategy to provide the youth of this country with better sporting facilities,” he said.

He urged parents to encourage children to spend more time playing sports, arguing that physical activity could help develop mental resilience as well as healthier habits.

The planned constituency upgrades would complement the Harrison sports complex under development in Potters, which Browne described as an approximately $20 million facility supported by donor funding and government contributions.

He said that complex would include an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a baseball diamond, facilities for football and cricket, and courts for basketball, netball and volleyball, along with spectator seating.

While Potters would serve as a major sporting centre, Browne said the wider programme would give children access to functional facilities within their communities.

The prime minister also appealed for residents to protect public investments, citing damage to basketball equipment, fencing and other amenities at Villa Park.

He said repairs alone would not be enough without greater care for the facilities, urging parents and other adults to discourage vandalism and help preserve them for future users.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Antigua and Barbuda approves $17 million to upgrade constituency sports facilities, PM says.