Construction work on the North Western Province (NWP) Sports Complex was launched in 2016 on the theme ‘A sports culture that opens to the village’ to create a happy and healthy generation.
The Bingiriya public grounds, which was the only available venue for sports and other recreational activities was selected for this project, which was initiated during Dayasiri Jayasekara’s tenure as the Minister of Sports of the Good Governance Government.
The provincial sports complex includes a swimming pool, an indoor stadium and a pavilion. The construction work on the pavilion has been completed and about five percent of the work on the swimming pool remains to be completed.
Only one-fourth of the work on the main administrative building has been completed. Some equipment used for construction now lies idle. Much of the construction site is overgrown with shrubs and dogs, cows and reptiles seem to take refuge in the buildings.
This project which would be a boon to the people in the North Western Province has come to a complete standstill for want of funds.
People in the area are looking forward to the day when the sports complex will be opened as they are desperately in need of a playground .
“The decision taken by the authorities concerned to provide the rural citizenry with facilities such as those that are predominantly available in Colombo and its suburbs is praiseworthy because most of the sportsmen and sportswomen who brought international honour to this tiny island nation hailed mostly from rural backgrounds. It is high time the Government resumed the construction work and made the theme of the project a reality and a great success,” a senior citizen in the area told the Sunday Observer.