The Minister for Youth and Sports Laisenia Tuitubou has welcomed their $23.1 million allocation, which was announced during the 2017/18 National Budget on Thursday night.

Tuitubou told SUNsports after the announcement the allocation would help develop sports in the country.

Out of the $23.1m- $18.3m will be used for operating expenditures, $4.5m for capital expenditure while $0.3m accounts for Value Added Tax (VAT). The allocated budget is an increase of $6.7m and is mainly attributed to:

 Increase support of national teams attending overseas competitions.

 The hosting of more international tournaments in Fiji.

 The ongoing construction of Vunisea (Kadavu) and Sawaieke (Gau) integrated sports complex under the Rural Sports Complex programme.

 Movement towards completion for the ongoing upgrade works of various youth training centres (Valelevu, Naleba, Naqere and Yavitu).

“We would like to thank the Ministry of Economy for having confidence in sports,” Tuitubou said.

“We have seen the result in the last three years on what we have achieved and this allocation will contribute immensely to the development of sports in the country.

“Government is very particular on sports, especially physical activity among the people of Fiji mainly the youths of today.

“We face a huge problem when it comes to Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) so this will engage the public more with the new initiatives and the ongoing initiatives that will be happening this year and next year.

“So I can say that we are really satisfied with the allocation given.”

Edited by Leone Cabenatabua

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