Hambantota is set to become the sports hub of Sri Lanka with moves to build a new state of the art athletics stadium and a golf course in the area just months after the construction of a new cricket stadium was completed.Parliamentarian Namal Rajapasa made these revelations in an interview with the Times of India where he also said that the infrastructure will be set in place to hold major events in the district by opening a new airport and hotels.
Excerpts of the interview:
You've realised your goal of having international cricket matches staged here, the tough task is to sustain interest in cricket among the locals after these two World Cup games.
It's not tough. Certainly not as tough as convincing the cricket board and the other authorities to come and build this facility. When we identified the land in 2006, this was a poor village. The road was only eight feet wide and it was made of mud. Now, because of the stadium, we have a double road. So development has taken place. We are happy to bring the WC to Hambantota , but we don't want to relax. We have bigger plans in store to develop this place.
Road more Now that international matches have been held here, will it help discover talented cricketers from here too?
Of course! Did anyone expect talent to emerge from tiny places like Matara? Didn't it produce a Sanath Jayasuriya? A legend! There is talent here too, but the only thing people lack here is opportunity. Now with this stadium comes a chance of them getting a window , an opportunity and I hope they grab it.
You mentioned bigger plans. What are they?
We have bid for the Commonwealth Games. We will be constructing a state of the art athletics stadium next year. We are getting a lot of help from the Indian government as well as other countries. We are hoping to make this the sports village and we are also planning to construct a private university here whereby the university students will be able to use this as a training facility. By the middle of this year, the construction of a five star hotel will begin. Next year we are going in for a golf course. A Chinese company has already come up with a proposal.
But there's hardly any infrastructure? Teams for the World Cup too stayed far away?
By November 2012, a fully functional international airport will be ready and that will boost air connectivity for athletes and cricketers who will be travelling here. We have signed a host of contracts with five-star hotel companies like JW Marriot, Hyatt and Shangrila
news now.lk
