By Stephan Sookram

THE Government of Guyana (GoG) and the organisers of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) are still ‘mamboing’ over the hosting of the Semi-Finals and Final of the 2016 Hero edition of Caribbean cricket’s T20 showpiece.Taking questions during the government’s post-Cabinet media briefing yesterday, Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman hinted that while plans to host the semi-finals and final are more than likely, they are not yet cast in stone.
“Suffice to say that we are doing everything possible to bring the games to Guyana” were the exact words of Minister Trotman, who confirmed that the GoG and CPL are in talks over the tournament’s finals.
He continued by saying, “The initial request was in excess of US$2M, and we are still to confirm but the last figure I know of was on or about US$1.5M.
That’s the package. But the Minister of Finance Winston Jordan has to conclude the discussions and negotiations with the CPL organisers.”
“What I think was attractive to the government is that the CPL organisation or the organisers extended to us the offer of hosting the final, semi-finals and four games here and in our Jubilee year, we believe that it would be a good filling to the celebrations,” the minister added.

NO ‘DOLLAR VALUE’ ON CRICKET DEVELOPMENT
In answering questions relating to why the government is opting to host the tournament and its economic value to the country, the minister contended that “you can’t put a dollar value to the strengthening of cricket in Guyana.”
Added to the Golden Jubilee celebrations, the government believes that the occasion is fitting as a celebration for the West Indies teams’ (Women, Men and U-19) who swept the recently concluded World Cups.
“We believe that having cricket here and having international stars in Guyana is just the festive mood that would be a good injection to our economy,” Trotman went on to say.

TRANCHE PAYMENT OF OLD DEBTS
Meanwhile the minister confirmed that the government is going to pay off the debts racked up to the organisers of the CPL by the previous administration, saying, “We (GoG) decided that it will be paid in tranches.”
According to reports, the previous government had racked up a US$500 000 bill to the organisers of the six-team tournament during the 2015 edition but had not paid off their incurred debts, leaving it on the administration of the day.
Trotman confirmed this and the figure, while noting that while no proper documentation had been filed for the money, the government is still moving forward to have the tournament run trouble-free.
“We believe that in the interest of Cricket; in the interest of good relations, in the interest of the future of the sport, that we should come to an amicable resolution,” said Trotman.
“Through interventions made from overseas, a group of ministers met with a CPL team late last year and we managed to arrive at what we believe is a settlement even though there is no documentation of US$500 000 being owed.”