Horse owners frustrated at lack of legislation
The annual Boxing Day horse race meet was truly a fascinating day as seen in this photo.
The annual Boxing Day horse race meet was truly a fascinating day as seen in this photo.

HORSE racing in Guyana is big business. It provides a significant boost to the country’s economy, but the lack of a critical piece of legislation that will legitimise its operations is responsible for the sport not being a bigger success story locally.

However, not much effort is being made to have the sport run in the most effective way possible, and as such the passage and necessary enactment of the horseracing legislation is taking too long and by the time it comes to fruition, much irreparable damage could have been done to the sport.

To this end, a number of racehorse owners have voiced their concerns, saying the legislators have failed tremendously. Nothing much was done by the previous administration with regard to the implementation of the legislation, and the present Government cannot escape some criticism since a copy of a horse-racing legislation has been with the government since late 2015.

“Look, this is not about politics. We, the horse owners, are aware that a draft copy of the horse-racing legislation was done years now, and why it can’t go to the relevant places and put into law. We need it,” one horse owner, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said.
Another horse owner, who also agreed to speak to this reporter only on condition of anonymity said, “All the politicians are the same. The (PPP) had the draft … they did nothing, now this government … since 2015 they got the draft and they too na do nothing”.

The draft, Guyana Horse Racing Authority Act, which will allow the sport to run more effectively and to deal with violators, includes: increasing the membership of the Racing Authority from nine to 15; including the Bush Lot United Turf Club as a member of the GHRA and implementing a two-year term for members of the Authority.

The legislation, which was championed by former GHRA president Justice Cecil Kennard, will also give the GHRA the power to schedule race dates for race meetings in the event that a club is unable to run off a race meeting.

Dubbed the ‘Sport of Kings’, horse racing, since its resuscitation locally, has been operating under a legal document that was registered under the Miscellaneous Deeds Act.
In February of this year, Minister with the responsibility for Sport, Dr George Norton, had anticipated a speedy passage of the much-needed horse-racing legislation.

“If the legislation is there for parliament and must be assented to, then we have to do so, we should not have it waiting at the Attorney General’s Chambers. “It’s not the first legislation to be formulated later than that and has become law, so I see no reason we should wait, because there is need for it, and if there is need for it, everything possible must be done to make it a reality,” Dr Norton had told Chronicle Sport.

Minister Norton then added, “It shouldn’t be rocket science for Guyana to have a legislation in place, let’s bring it to parliament and debate it.

“I can tell you right now we are working on an animal protection bill in a parliamentary select committee and it’s amazing what will happen when that bill becomes law, in terms of the way animals will be protected by that bill, and we must take that into consideration in the drafting of our legislation.”

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