Sports Minister Anil Roberts is in Turkey attending a conference of Fina (Fédération Internationale de Natation), the international swiming organisation, at the World Short Course Championships which gets under way today.
He said yesterday he was not going to the competitive aspect of the world championships specifically in any personal capacity to coach Olympic medallist George Bovell. He had accepted the invitation to the conference and congress and that was his first and foremost task, he said.
“But in any spare time that I have in between meetings and seminars at the  conference, I will  assist and coach not only Bovell but also T&T’s other swim-meet participants, Joshua McLeod and Adrian McLeod, who, as you would know, are all representing T&T at  the world championships, and if there is anything I can do to help any one of them to make T&T proud, I will do so to the best of my ability as minister responsible for sport for the country, if I’m around,” he added.
Roberts said he did not know who was acting as sports minister. “Kindly ask the Prime Minister,” he said.
Roberts said swiming rules, standards and other issues pertaining to the sport will be discussed by delegates from throughout the world.
He said yesterday he was in London en route to Turkey, where he had been specially invited by the president of Fina to attend the world championships and the world congress, along with other sports ministers, to discuss issues concerning the future of swimming as well as new rules for hosting major internal competitions.
Roberts said all the issues were particularly relevant, since T&T is investing $194 million in an aquatic centre with five pools, and to make the investment worthwhile government must ensure it conforms to international specifications.
He pointed out that the PNM, in controlling the Tobago House of Assembly had spent $250 million on building only one pool.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sport Ashwin Creed did not respond to cell phone calls to ask who was acting as minister. Local Government Minister Suruj Rambachan said Jack Warner usually acts when Roberts is away.
Source: www.guardian.co.tt