Cricket Administration Act Set To Be Restored Soon -Minster Ramson

─$805.3M to be for ambitious plan for sport development

By Neola Damon

DPI, GUYANA, Thursday, September 17, 2020

Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Hon. Charles Ramson Jr. says a motion filed to restore the once suspended Cricket Administration Act to its original conditions, will be enforced within a few days.

During his Budget presentation Thursday, the Minister said the Bill was passed with the support of both sides of the House but was later deferred when the PPP/C administration left office in 2015.

“There was a challenge to that cricket bill and … a few years after that challenge, at the Court of Appeal, the Minister who held the portfolio for Culture, Youth and Sport [Minister Dr. Nicolette Henry] went to the Court of Appeal along with the [then] Attorney General [and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mr. Basil Williams] and consented to the provisions being suspended in that Act,” Minister Ramson said.

The Bill, which was passed in 2014, looks to provide legal administrative guidelines for cricket. It allows the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) to be established as a corporate body comprising the Demerara, Essequibo, and the Berbice Cricket Boards, all of which are to be made corporate entities too.

A section of the Bill will also address the issue of phantom voting for the election of persons for administrative positions. It will give limited power to the Minister of Sport, whose only role will be to appoint the regulator.

The Bill provides for better financial accountability, and as such, the GCB would be required to present timely audited financial reports to the National Assembly, as well as the National Sports Commission.

Minister Ramson said the Ministry’s budget is likely to grow pending its goal to establish three world-class multipurpose facilities in Regions Two, Six and Ten. The Ministry was allotted $2.7B in this year’s Emergency Budget, $805.3M of which is for sport development.

“We are currently preparing the concept notes and proposals so once that is done, we should be able to get the allocation for the next budget,” Minister Ramson said.

Culture 

Meanwhile, the Minister said Guyanese would soon enjoy virtually broadcast cultural programmes such as dance, drama, and song festivals. This includes a ‘One Guyana Concert’ and the launch of Mashramani and Amerindian exhibitions on September 27. These activities will be held in keeping with the guidelines outlined for COVID-19.