`Queen’s Baton’ traverses Georgetown
THERE were several hiccups as the Queen’s Baton traversed the city of Georgetown yesterday on its way to Glasgow, Scotland for the opening of the XX Commonwealth Games on July 23.
President Donald Ramotar received the baton, which is a much-loved tradition of the Commonwealth Games and symbolises the coming together of all 54 Commonwealth nations in preparation for the four-yearly festival of sport and culture, from president of the Guyana Olympic Association Kamal Juman-Yassin at 09:00hrs yesterday morning without any glitches, but as the baton made its way along the route there were several hiccups.
After receiving the Baton from President Ramotar, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank Anthony jogged with it to the National Library where it was handed over to a student of the Bishops’ High School, who was
joined by others for a photo opportunity. Then chaos erupted as there was no control whatsoever over the traffic situation, as drivers, not knowing the importance or significance of the Baton, tried to force their way to disrupt the free flow of the procession.
When the Baton reached City Hall where it was to be received by Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green, he was nowhere around and in his absence, Deputy Mayor of Georgetown Patricia Chase-Green took hold of it from the bearer and walked with it to Parliament Building where it was supposed to be handed over to the Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman, but on arrival there., the Speaker was nowhere around, neither was the Deputy Speaker.
It was at this point that Mayor Hamilton arrived with a vehicle and he was followed immediately by Speaker Raphael Trotman who walked with the Baton to the Bank of Baroda and handed it over to the Glasgow 2014 amateur boxing hopefuls.
The Queen’s Baton Relay offers an unparalleled opportunity to showcase each nation and territory in the Commonwealth family.
The journey is a chance for Scotland and Glasgow to shine as economic, culture and education opportunities are created.
The Relay was launched on July 9 last year from the Buckingham Palace, where Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11 placed her message to the Commonwealth into the Baton.
The Baton then departed from Glasgow for its epic journey, beginning in Asia, visiting India, the host nation of the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Over a period of 248 days, the Baton will travel sequentially through each nation creating an engaging journey through Asia, Oceania, Africa, Americas (South), Caribbean and Americas (North), before returning to Europe and the United Kingdom.
(By Michael DaSilva)