Shelly-Ann Thompso, Staff Reporter

Douglas Orane, chairman and chief executive officer of GraceKennedy Limited, presents a citation to Veronica Campbell-Brown, 2008 Olympic 200-metre champion, at a luncheon hosted in her honour by the company. The function was held at The Jamaica Pegasus in New Kingston yesterday. - Norman Grindley/Acting Photography Editor

Olivia Grange, the sports minister, has brushed aside criticism that the Jamaican Government was extravagant in the week-long post-Olympic home-coming celebrations earlier this month.

In an interview with The Gleaner yesterday, Grange said the athletes, who brought home a record haul of 11 medals - including six gold - from the Beijing Games in August, fully deserved the honour.

"I am not making any apology to anyone for doing what I have done," said Grange, following a function honouring Veronica Campbell-Brown, which was held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

"They (athletes) loved it, they enjoyed it, they said this has been the greatest moment in their lives, next to winning the gold medals in Beijing," the minister added.

False reports

Grange said preliminary checks show that the celebrations cost the Government $30 million, although the final figure is yet to be determined.

She dismissed comments that the Government spent close to $100 million, saying donations from corporate sponsors signifi-cantly offset costs.

"There are a lot of figures bouncing around about what was spent for the celebration. We don't have those figures yet, because we had a budget, but there is a lot we got in kind," noted Grange.

The homecoming celebrations included motorcades, gala cere-monies at the National Stadium and the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium, school tours and invitation-only soirées.

Dr Omar Davies, opposition spokesman on finance, recently criticised Government's spending on what he termed "hype events", instead of placing priority on local economic crises which could be exacerbated by a global financial meltdown which is still unravelling.

shelly-ann.thompson@gleanerjm.com.