Sean Tucker, the chairman of the National Sports Centre’s Board of Trustees, said that he was not surprised that his group’s government grant had been significantly cut in the Budget yesterday.

The Board of Trustees has been handed a $950,000 grant to cover the costs of maintaining the 28-acre site, which is $300,000 — or 24 per cent — less than the $1.25 million allocated to them last year.

Considering the difficult economic climate engulfing the Island, Tucker admitted that it was inevitable that the trustee’s grant would be suffer a sizeable reduction.

“We’ll do what is required to ensure that our bills are paid, and that our National Sports Centre remains the showpiece for sport and entertainment in Bermuda,” Tucker said.

“I’m not surprised by the reduction in our grant. The current economic climate calls for belt-tightening across the board and I guess that we’re no exception.”

Tucker denied that last month’s controversial decision to introduce fees for the general public and Bermuda’s track and field clubs to train at the main track had been influenced by early warning of the cuts.

Although it is likely that the trustees would have been expected some loss of government funding, Tucker said that they had not, and never have, received advanced notice of their grant allocation.

“The introduction of fees for access to the track was based purely on the board’s determination that our existing model was unsustainable,” Tucker said.

“The cost for maintaining the stadium has risen over the course of time and we must now secure funds for maintaining this asset in the world-class condition that the people of Bermuda have come to expect. It is only reasonable that all facility users share the financial responsibility for maintaining the stadium through the payment of fees.

“It was deemed prudent to introduce the fees now, and at a moderate level, rather than to wait until higher fees would be forced on users, or worse requiring us to cut back on the provision of services.”

Donna Watson, the president of the Bermuda National Athletics Association, and Tyrone Smith, the Island’s leading long jumper, have both been critical of the NSC’s decision to charge track and field clubs to use the venue.

They feared that the policy could severely hamper the development of Bermuda’s young athletes, with the local clubs known to be seeking alternative venues to train at little or no expense.