Local shooters badly need a range – Sports Ministry representative
Presently the NSSF is facing a tough task in providing its national shooters a proper place to train - Pic by Amila Gamage
The Ministry of Sport representative, Gamini Costa, who came in as an observer for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of National Shooting Sports Federation of Sri Lanka (NSSF), stated that he is overwhelmed with the unity of the affiliation and its members, while pledging his fullest co-operation to help the sport reach its desired heights.
Costa, who is also the Project Officer for Shooting Sports of the Ministry of Sports, was highly concerned on the delay in setting up a national shooting range, went on to say that he would do his utmost to have NSSF’s mission reach a true ending.
“It was rather strange to experience such a camaraderie among the officials and members, in particularly at an AGM. The proceedings took place in a peaceful yet professional manner. It’s a very good example to follow by other associations as well,” Costa stated.
The AGM was held in final week of December, 2018 at the Megapharma Auditorium in Kohuwela, with the presence of all affiliations of NSSF with two absentee memberships being excused. The main objective of the gathering was to table the account reports, audited by the Auditor General and the annual report. Both reports were passed by the membership while the discussion went on, on the development of the sport, targeting schools and regions.
In addition, the much delayed process of setting up of a national shooting range was taken up as the NSSF has completed its process and are awaiting the green light from the Ministry of Sports. Costa went on to explain that shooting sports would be a complete entity, if its athletes had a proper place to hold training session.
“It’s a known fact that shooting sports has the potential of winning international medals, in particular at Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympics. It’s good to see the current administration has made a good layout for its shooters, who are finding it difficult to undergo training, as there’s no designated place for them to do their part,” Costa added.
The Sports Ministry official assured that he would do everything possible to ensure the NSSF ends up with a national shooting range, a venture NSSF President Shirantha Peries initiated when he was first elected in 2015. The project has gone through four different Ministers of Sports ever since and now comes under the newly appointed Harin Fernando. The infrastructural and logistic aspects of the project has been completed after allocating a potential plot of land near the Waters’ Edge Hotel in Battaramulla and is waiting for a financial approval. With a recent political turmoil and changes that affected the country and the delay of the budget, NSSF is left in the dark of where its position is.
“There are shooting ranges within the military premises of Army, Navy and Air Force, but there are restrictions for civilian movement in those areas. A national shooting range, located in an independent location would be the ideal remedy for this, and almost all is done but the most important part, the financial support,” Costa explained.