LAST Sunday, the excitement could have been felt throughout the packed stadium. The local support for the Guyana Amazon Warriors was tremendous, almost frightening to the opposing team. The players were all motivated and energised by the thunderous applause that greeted them as they walked to the pitch. Win or lose, they “come out to play.”

But it is not only crowd support that motivates players to give their all in a tournament that pits quality players from the West Indies in a rivalry with their own, the financial rewards are well worth it.
It is evident that a lot of hard work and planning went into organising these games, and the benefits have not been limited to the players alone. Guyana, like other venues in the Region, stands to benefit tremendously from the spin-off of the Limacol Caribbean Premier League T20 Cricket. Tourism will certainly get a major boost from the exposure of these games throughout the cricketing world, as commentators showcase Guyana in all its splendour on worldwide television.
Not since the Australia-born media tycoon, Kerry Packer revolutionised the sport by founding World Series Cricket, has the game generated so much excitement and interest. The six teams in the Limacol CPL tournament are competing for over US$800,000 in prize money. Twenty five thousand US dollars per match goes to the winning team, with other cash incentives of US$1,000 going to the Man of the Match of each game. The two top teams in the final will play off for a winner-take-all prize of a whopping US$250,000. The big bucks have finally come to cricket.
Limacol has also introduced the Super Six cash award of US$1,000 for the player who scores the most sixes in each match, and the El Dorado Rum “Catch of the Match” will go to the player who makes the most thrilling catch in each match. In addition, Virgin Airlines, the official airline of the Limacol CPL T20, will be staging the “Virgin Challenge” which encourages batsmen to strike the Virgin red balloon positioned over the stadium, with the chance to win a trip around the world for two.
Money is certainly the main motivating factor that has brought these teams and franchise players together, but it took a vision and courage to risk so much for the greater cause of elevating the standard of cricket played in the Region. Guyana has certainly benefited from the return of international cricket to the Providence National Stadium. Hopefully, the franchise owners will also benefit from their investments.

The Providence National Stadium is now the pride of Guyana. Built primarily for cricket matches, the stadium is easily converted to accommodate multi-purpose events. It continues to host scores of high-profile concerts, attracting popular entertainers from all over the world.
Without the capacity of the Providence National Stadium, this would not have been possible. 
But it wasn’t so long ago when this stadium was being built in 2007, that it was labelled a ‘white elephant’ by the same people who now oppose the Amaila Falls hydro-electric plant and the Marriott Hotel. Had the visionless opposition been allowed to prevail then, the stadium that so many Guyanese now enjoy, would not have been built.

As our President reminded delegates in his opening remarks to the 30th. Congress of the People’s Progressive Party last weekend, The PPP/C Administration has delivered the goods in keeping their campaign promise to uplift the well-being of all Guyanese.
Again I must reiterate, if the non-constructive attitude and visionless agenda of the PNC/APNU and AFC had been allowed to prevail, none of the following physical and social infrastructural developments, so vital to our people, would have been brought to fruition: 

• The Takutu Bridge to Brazil and the Berbice Bridge have both been completed and are now fully operational.

• New and resurfaced roadways have been completed or are currently
under construction from New Amsterdam to Moleson Creek; in Black Bush Polder; in East and West Canje; on the East Coast of Demerara from Better Hope to Belfield; and on the East Bank of Demerara from Providence to Diamond.

• The Parika and Supenaam stellings have been upgraded and new ferries introduced on the Parika to Supenaam route reducing travel time while enhancing the comfort of commuters.

• A new airport with an extended runway is under development at Timehri and a second international airport has been brought into operation at Ogle.
Indeed, the Ogle International Airport runway has been extended and improved and the first international commercial flight -LIAT, made a perfect landing recently.

• New schools and dormitories have been built at Mabaruma; Aurora; Parika; Diamond; No. 8 Village West Coast Berbice; No. 79 Village; Paramakatoi; and Surama.

• New hospitals and health facilities have been commissioned at Georgetown; Linden; Mabaruma and Lethem.

• A new National Ophthalmology Hospital was built at Port Mourant and new diagnostic and treatment centres at Suddie; Leonora; Diamond and Mahaicony.

• Water treatment plants have been constructed at Lima; Vergenoegen; Cotton Tree; Sophia; No. 56 Village and Queenstown, Berbice.

• Water wells have been sunk at Hague; Somerset; Parfait Harmonie; Tuscan; Diamond; Manchester; No. 47 Village; and Rose Hall.

• And thousands of new houselots have been developed across the country in places such as Diamond and Grove with affordable home ownership, including extension of tax breaks to people paying interest on low and middle-income mortgages.
Since 2008, an additional 28,474 house lots have been distributed, 236 core houses and 80 Turn-key houses have been constructed. And the list goes on. 

They say that the memory of mankind is short, and I believe that the joint opposition is cashing in on this big time. The same way most Guyanese have forgotten the sufferings we endured to get basic food supplies during the reign of the PNC dictator Forbes Burnham, both David Granger and Khemraj Ramjattan are gambling that the electorate will also forget that it was the PPP/C that greatly improved living conditions for most Guyanese, including their own supporters. Potable water has been greatly improved; electricity brought to villages that had none under the PNC; and it is the PPP/C Administration that made it possible for most Guyanese to be proud homeowners. But it is natural for people to demand more, hence the idiom: The more you get is the more you want.
Indeed, the memory of most Guyanese may be short, but I will do everything to remind them of what it was like to live in dire oppression under the PNC. A part of our dark history that David Granger and his new-found toady want to keep hidden from the Guyanese people.