Guyana National Stadium, Demands Competent Management

Dear Editor,

Guyanese and in particular cricket fans must not only face the humiliation of yet another loss staged at the Guyana National Stadium, to compound this heartache, is a stadium that is, to put it mildly, a disgrace to the Caribbean, and in a country that is blessed with an abundance of gas, oil, gold, and other natural resources.

The reason for this disgraceful state is simple, managing the affairs of an important sector, our sporting cultural département, are persons and a person who can be described as culture barbarians. When World Cup 2007 was proposed to be hosted in Guyana, I was consulted by Guyanese patriot Mr Neil Singh who was then president of the GCC. We had, with experienced engineers, identified a portion of the north eastern section of Merriman’s mall and the agreement of the GFC, determined that there was enough space for the new facility, including parking facility, to host World Cup 2007 and beyond. When this plan was revealed the central PPP government stepped in and announced that the Indian Government will build a new facility at Providence. Listening to informal discussions it was clear that the Government did not, for whatever reason, wish that this facility be in Georgetown.

One must now ask the question; why good sense did not allow the routine maintenance of this facility, instead of the embarrassing condition we now have at Providence? A basic requirement of any public facility is functioning toilet and sanitary facilities, checking with patrons, even these facilities are not properly maintained.

In Guyana we are not short of money but the problem is an unwillingness to put the right people with competence and experience to manage these facilities. Of course, the other problem, as one cricket enthusiast observed, is an obsession by this administration that everything of importance must carry their stamp of origin.  May the gods save us from this conundrum.

Yours truly,
Hamilton Green
Elder