By Rawle Toney in Suriname (compliments of Department of Public Information, National Sports Commission)

THE 2017 Inter-Guiana Games (IGG) opened yesterday with Suriname and Guyana both committing to the continuity of the event which is celebrating its ‘Golden Jubilee’.

Guyana and Suriname will compete in the disciplines of basketball, football, swimming, volleyball, track and field and cycling from August 25 to 27 and according to Suriname’s Minister of Sports, Joan Dogojo, her government stands willing and ready to invest in making the games one of the biggest of the ‘Guianas’ (Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana).

In 1967, former President Forbes Burnham brainstormed the Inter-Guiana Games with the hopes of fostering a close relationship between Guyana and Suriname using Sports.
Derrick Whitehead, O.T McDonald and Eddie Van Genderen are listed as some of the founding principals of the games that expanded to include French Guiana.

Athletics, basketball and football are the games that were contested when the IGG started, but, 50 years later, the table tennis, cycling, chess, badminton and swimming are some of the disciplines included in the expansion.

“As Minister of Sports of Suriname, I would like to express our feelings of satisfaction, appreciation and joy to host the IGG 2017 in Paramaribo, Suriname,” stated Dogojo in her charge to athletes and other officials who gathered at Ismay Welgin Sports Hall.

She added, “By organising these games, we are giving the school youths under the age of 18 years the opportunity to interact through sports and culture and they really deserve it. We must assure the continuation of these games in the upcoming years and the participation of French Guiana is important to complete the initial idea of this event.”

The Surinamese Sports Minister noted, “We not only want sports to develop holistically but also give school youth the opportunity to be aware of the benefits of sport and physical activities in order to have a healthy and productive community.”

Meanwhile, Christopher Jones, Guyana’s Director of Sport, explained that despite the games’ predecessors’ economic and political challenges over the past years, they were still able to manage and rise above those challenges and keep the games going.

Calling on Suriname’s Director of Sports Luciano Mentowikromo, Jones said “Director, ours is the task, now that the Baton has been passed, that we ensure we do everything necessary for future games so that the youths of Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana can foster that closer relationship through sports for the next 50 years and beyond.”

“It would be remiss of me not to thank His Excellency President Desiree Bouterse and his Government through the Honourable Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs and of course you, Director, and your support staff for their hard work and dedication for organising these games,” said Jones.

Mentowikromo, echoed similar sentiments as Jones, and also said that his Government stands ready and willing to invest in the games.