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04th February 2012
Fortuna Belrose speaks – PART 2
Anthony De Beauville

As promised in the Thursday 2nd February 2012 edition of The Voice we continue where we left off with the feature speaker of the St.Lucia Olympic Committee 1st Vice President and a member of the Commonwealth Games Federation Fortuna Belrose when she addressed the gathering during the annual sports awards of the St.Lucia Athletics Association that was held at the Palm Haven Hotel.
Belrose said, “They can also work on fine tuning the cultural product that will be presented when the world will be watching. This sport event presents an opportunity for integration of the various sectors of the society and it is how well we all embrace that challenge and work together that will result in our country realizing the benefit for generations to come.
“It means that young people can have hope of a brighter future as the country prepares to host. But we all must commit. As citizens, we need to support and take pride in our country’s lofty goals in pursuit of sport and development. No other country in the region has had such an opportunity to host an international multi-sport event since Jamaica hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1968. St. Lucia will therefore be on show for the world to see. We must be focused on putting our best foot forward as 2017 will be our time to shine.”
“Personally, I think this is an awesome opportunity. But it will demand much from all of us. We will all have to make sacrifices and appreciate that this is an enormous and complicated task for which every Saint Lucian has to contribute in some way or the other. I am sure it will appeal to the public if the Government of St. Lucia would assure citizens that a percentage of the VAT proceeds would be set aside for preparation for 2017. Under these conditions VAT would certainly be a more palatable sell amongst our people.”
 
 

“The value of sports to national development and global recognition is tremendous and we must take full advantage of it. As a people, we have had little opportunity to beam in the global spotlight. Usain Bolts and Merlin Ottey of Jamaica remind us every day that we need a global star. In fact, I recall attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Trinidad and Tobago in 2010 where the then Prime Minister of Jamaica intimated to the gathering that when he received invitations to visit countries it was usually a request for him to come along with Usain Bolt.”
“We do not yet have a Usain Bolt or a Merlin Ottey, but we have athletes of international repute such as Levern Spencer and Darren Sammy. There are also emerging ones such as Janelle Scheper, Danielle Beaubrun, Darvin Edwards and Johnson Charles. As we move towards 2017, we need to be able to use our stars and personalities to promote our desire for success not only in 2017 but beyond. We must pay greater attention to them and use them as models to promote the Games in every nook and cranny of our country. Their stories need to be told, their communities need to be discovered and our people need to be continually inspired.”
“If we take full advantage of this marketing opportunity and manage our public and global relations effectively the multiplier effect will be phenomenal. Our tourism sector will get a major boost as initiatives to lure people to St. Lucia will bear fruit. The country’s name and presence in the international arena will always be acknowledged as the host of the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games. This means that the St. Lucia Tourist Board must therefore get on the band wagon and work to develop a product and brand for 2017 and beyond. Just as Rio did!”

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