Ferguson: I Will Not Re-invent the Wheel at Sports Ministry

Minister Rodwell Ferguson is literally only four days in as the new Minister of Sports, but he has served in this capacity before, under the Said Musa administration. He says his predecessor, Minister Kevin Bernard, already has a good system in place and that there is no need to fix what isn’t broken.

Rodwell Ferguson

Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Sports

There were previous plans within the Ministry and I nuh wah reinvent the wheel. I think Minister Bernard was doing an excellent job. Maybe it was not visible because we were in a COVID situation where yoh nuh see no sporting activity. Yoh nuh see no movement with youths. But at one p.m., today, I will sit down with the senior people at the Ministry and I will know what was their plan, and see how I can now get into their plan and if we have to improve the plan, we’re going to improve it. I just spoke to a gentleman yesterday in Belize City, and he told me “Mr. Ferguson, you know what – the cricket industry is almost dead. And it might be a sport that people need to revitalize.” So I really consider his suggestion and I believe taking up the reign as Minister of Sports I will figure out how we can revitalize cricket in this country. It’s a clean sport; it’s a sport for the family; so that might be one way to go. We will try to work with the organizations around like the F.F.B to see how we can improve the quality of football, softball, any sport in this country.

Marion Ali

“Now, we have to consider COVID. Because all these variants keep coming out and they keep limiting us in terms of contact sports. But in the midst of all of that, how do you still make sports thrive?”

Rodwell Ferguson

“Well now the Minister of Health was the Minister of Sports. So I will be guided by him.  So he will give the directive and I will follow the directive and his instruction. Competitions are going on right now indoors. I’m saying they can have a competition in a stadium, not outside of a stadium. On the fifteenth of January, it was to be open to have at least fifty percent spectators. But, I want to say that the regulations are, I think, completed at the end of the month. So we’re going to extend that regulation until everything expire, so hopefully by the first of February we can say fans can now attend sporting activities but only fifty percent [capacity].”