Newly appointed Minister for Youth Development and Sports, Kenson Casimir plans to strengthen the administration of all sporting disciplines on the island.
Casimir, a former youth cricketer and track and field athlete, is no stranger to the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports as he worked in the said Ministry before, calling it quits to pursue a political career.
When the announcement was made that he would be the Minister for Youth Development and Sports, social media came alive as several sportsmen and women celebrated by sending him congratulatory messages and much love.
Casimir, 35, now joins a growing list of Sports Ministers before him since Saint Lucia attained Independence from Great Britain in 1979.
Casimir defeated the incumbent UWP Lenard Montoute, a former Youth and Sports Minister, at the recently held General Election on Monday 26th July 2021 by 2053 votes (Casimir 7077) / (Montoute 5024).
Blessed with a passion for sports and youth development, Casimir believes unquestionably in the power of young people and using sports as a vehicle for change.
Before his stint as Minister, he was the sports anchor at MBC Television and also took charge of Saint Lucia Sports Online (SLSO).
The VOICE spoke to Minister Casimir yesterday about his immediate plans for his Ministry.
“I will try to get an update as to what has been happening at the Ministry with the various programmes. The new Prime Minister will be delivering a supplementary budget, a more realistic one to what we saw earlier this year and from that budget we will see what the priorities are, what programmes that are funded and ongoing and where we are as it pertains to the maintenance of playing fields and facilities and as it pertains to youth and sports development,” Casimir said.
He added, “There are a number of things that are critical to the development of sports in Saint Lucia, one such thing being administration at the national level. I will be updated on every single association with the hope of strengthening each one of them.”
According to Casimir many people were surprised he was selected to be the Youth and Sports Minister.
“I am very heartened and motivated to chart the way forward for youth and sports development in Saint Lucia. I have a lot of ideas, I want to see them executed, but budgetary constraints won’t allow me to execute all of them immediately. But once the initial cleanup is done we can see what exactly is needed and then move forward,” Casimir said.
