The Minister of Community and Cultural Development, Wayne Scott, who is responsible for Sports held a Press Conference to discuss the Ministries Budget.
“I am pleased to share with the Bermuda public, a summary of the 2013/2014 fiscal year Budget Estimate for the Ministry of Community and Cultural Development. The total allocation for this Ministry is eighty-six point four million dollars ($86.4) in Current Expenditure and a further one point one five million ($1.15) in Capital Expenditure.
In conjunction with our internal and external social partners, the Ministry of Community and Cultural Development plays a lead role in the social development of Bermuda, in particular, responding to the need to address serious social issues such as family dysfunction, economic hardship, and at-risk children and youth.
As with most Ministries we must do “more with less”. In that regard, four (4) Departments within the Ministry decreased their budgets by three point two percent (3.2%) namely the Department of Youth, Sports and Recreation received a budget allocation of eleven million, six hundred sixty-one thousand, eight hundred and fifty-two dollars ($11,661,852) as compared to their 2012-13 amount of twelve million, fifty-two thousand, eight hundred and forty-eight dollars ($12,052,848).
The Department’s key funding amounts include grants to host major sporting events such as the NatWest Island Games in July 2013 and the International Cricket Council Pepsi World Cricket League Tournament in April/May 2013. The National Sports Centre (NSC) will receive an increased grant allocation of one point two five million ($1.25M) to contribute towards operational expenses, challenging the NSC to derive any shortfall through enhanced fundraising and/or revenue creation schemes. Nine hundred and fifty-five thousand dollars ($955,000) of this operating grant is targeted towards expenses associated with the new Aquatics Centre."
