HIS Excellency President Donald Ramotar last Friday evening told his audience who attended the Guyana Olympic Association’s (GOA) annual awards ceremony at Georgetown Club, that sports is integral to the development of the country. “The success of sports in Guyana is dependent on the quality of the respective national governing bodies. If we have weak, divided, inept and unaccountable sports associations and federations, sports will suffer.
“In such a situation, no government interested in the development of sports can afford to sit idly by and allow sport to decline in our country. It is too important for national development for that to be allowed to happen.
“Through sports, we are able to develop personal and social skills of our athletes, while at the same time, foster discipline, teamwork and the value of sacrifice and diligent, purposeful and sustained efforts,” he said.
President Ramotar suggested it is now time for sport associations/federations and boards to look at new models for sport development in Guyana, one in which the government partners with those bodies as well.
He highlighted the importance of sport as a unifying force, and the economic benefits that are derived from the hosting of high profile events such as the Cricket World Cup, which Guyana hosted in 2007, saying “It is precisely because of these social and economic benefits that the government considers sport an integral part of national development.”
President Ramotar added, “We are not prepared to oversee the disintegration and the decline of any sporting association. Such fate affects not just the officers of those associations, but it would affect more heavily and directly, our sportsmen and sportswomen, who would be denied important opportunities.
“I want to make it clear that the Government respects the autonomy of sporting associations … it is not our desire to control or hijack the work of sport associations. I have enough politics to deal with than to try and worry with the politics of sporting organisations.”
“We therefore believe that sporting associations should be free to conduct their own affairs, subject to their own rules and to the laws of Guyana. However, we have a duty to ensure the overall development of sports in the country, and therefore, we have a right to ensure that sporting associations do not retard the development of any sport.
“We have a duty to intervene to ensure that the development of sports is not stagnated and the legitimate concerns of stakeholders are addressed.”
Just last year, the Government was forced to establish an Interim Management Committee (IMC) led by Clive Lloyd, to overlook the affairs of local cricket after in-house fighting and allegations of financial improprieties had plagued the Guyana Cricket Board for the past few years.
The Commander-in-Chief also took the opportunity to reiterate his administration’s commitment to the development of sporting infrastructure across the country, highlighting among other things, the construction of the National Stadium and Aquatic Centre as major achievements, and the realisation of an all-weather synthetic track at Leonora as a step towards helping Guyana to produce “its own Usain Bolt”.
He said the Government has over the years invested in the renovation of the Cliff Anderson Sport Hall and the National Gymnasium, while it has transformed the home of lawn tennis at Non Pariel Park into a modern Racquet Centre.
“In almost every sport we have provided resources. Never before has so much been done for sports. In 1992, the total expenditure of government dedicated to sport was under G$14M.
And last year, we spent G$747M on capital works for sport. Clearly, you can see that we are serious about improving our facilities and the skills of our athletes. We would like to do more and we would try to continue to do more,” concluded President Ramotar.