A brand-new club will offer expanded venues for Mauritanian youth activities.
Nouadhibou youths will soon enjoy a brand-new recreation centre, which is being built as part of broader efforts to boost youth infrastructure in Mauritania.
President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz laid the first stone on March 14th.
The centre offers 128 square metres of space and costs 241,953,775 ouguiya. Mauritanian company Sourour won the contract, and the work should be completed in five months. The centre features a large hall for drama.
Abdel Aziz had promised to build a youth club in Nouadhibou, who gave him broad support at the last presidential elections. Minister for Culture, Youth and Sport Cissé Mint Cheikh Ould Boidé welcomed the Mauritanian president to the site and announced that finance for a new Olympic stadium complex was also already in place.
"All that remains now is to seek bids for the contract, which will happen very soon," she told the young people who gathered as Abdel Aziz arrived. She also announced that all the country's stadiums would use solar power.
"It's brilliant, because the old youth centre next to the municipal stadium can't meet young people's needs anymore. This new youth centre, with all its facilities, will mean we can do more activities," said Samba Ould Mohamed, Director of Phare de Nouadhibou, a performing group who had been unable to find a suitable venue for their performances. "From what we hear, the new hall will have plenty of seating, and all the equipment we need."
Mohamed Ould Mahmoud, a member of the youth network, said the new centre's location meant that young people would not be able to make good use of it straight away. "The new youth centre is a long way from the city centre, and that's a disadvantage, because it's difficult for young people to get around. All the same, we welcome it with open arms, because facilities are sadly lacking."
Ahmedou Ould Aghob, regional representative for Culture, Youth and Sport, said: "This new infrastructure will give a new boost to young people in the city. [...] We're faced with very high demand from young people to organise activities, and we're being held back by the fact that there's only one youth centre. The new youth centre will offer them a new space where they can develop."
After laying the first stone, President Ould Abdel Aziz supervised the distribution of sports equipment to the regional leagues, including 100 bicycles for the Dakhlet Nouadhibou regional network. There will be a total of 1,140 bicycles distributed across the whole country, as a personal gift from the president.
© Magharebia.com 2012
