Guantanamo Bay has a sad Go-Kart track
There are only so many ways a Go-Kart track can be controversial. At the top of the list might be spending $400,000 of taxpayer money to build one at Guantanamo Bay. For $3 troops can take a five minute ride around the course and enjoy a much-deserved break from the day-to-day grind of military life. Sounds like a good idea in theory, but all is not well on the Guantanamo Bay Karting circuit.
“This is just one more step in improving quality of life for the people here in Guantanamo Bay,” said CAPT Mark Leary, the base Commanding Officer at the track ribbon cutting. (1)
Despite the good intentions the track and over $4million spent developing other recreational entertainment for U.S. troops and their families at Guantanamo have allegedly gone largely unused as of 2010. According to The Washington post the expenditures include an abandoned volleyball court valued at $249,000 and $3.5 million spent on 27 playgrounds that are often vacant. (2)
Underlying the obvious fiscal concerns looking like a creepy abandoned amusement park isn’t going to help Guantanamo’s shaky public persona. It might be time to jimmy off the engine governors and get a competitive karting league started out there. Go-kart tracks are meant for racing after all.
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