BETTER NEEDS TO BE DONE NEXT TIME

Mar 25, 2009 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

If the just concluded two international one day matches between England and the West Indies at the National Stadium was an administrative dress rehearsal for next year’s ICC World Twenty20 competition, then Guyana needs a completely new wardrobe.

There were tremendous slippages in the logistical arrangements from the high standards enjoyed during Cricket World Cup 2007. Guyana’s admirable hosting of that mega- event was however facilitated by Sunset Legislation which ensured that certain arrangements were put in place to facilitate the smooth running of the competition and to cater for emergencies.

Some aspects of that tournament were absent during last weekend’s matches, and this is regrettable. The crowds were far larger and yet there was no medical camp at the ground to attend to any emergencies on hand.

There was also evidently either an overselling of tickets for the mound or persons without tickets were admitted, because despite the entire ground being packed to capacity on Sunday, there were still large numbers of persons standing in the upper deck of the stands. Some of these may have come from the mound which was overcrowded to the extent that had there been a stampede in that area, many persons could have been seriously injured.

I would urge the authorities to be very careful about the number of persons they pack into that stand which has a “party” concept behind it. Patrons go there to have fun; to be able to get up and dance and move around, not to be packed in like sardines.

Unlike the tight arrangements which were also present during Cricket World Cup 2007, this time around there was a great deal of slackness by the Guyana Police Force. There was open reselling of tickets by numerous touts right under the noses of police ranks. The police could not have been unaware of this, yet the touts were operating like money sellers with large amounts of cash being held in their hands.

The prices for these black-market tickets were prohibitive. I heard one tout offering to sell a ticket for the grass mound for double the price of the highest cost seat in the ground. There were no less than a dozen touts selling tickets openly. As I was approaching one of them, he asked me whether I had any tickets to sell. The police ought to have arrested all of these touts and carted them off to the station to be later charged and placed before the courts.

However, the police should also be commended for the excellent work they did in trying to keep the traffic flowing. I hope that the Guyana Cricket Board recognizes the tremendous effort that the police made in this regard and would keep a special luncheon for these ranks who had a trying time to get the traffic going after the game.

They were clearly hampered because of the slippages that took place from the arrangements that were in place in 2007. Then, no vehicles were allowed to park within the confines of the stadium, and there was also no stopping on the road from the Bridge to the junction after the stadium. These arrangements ensured that the roads were always free for the movement of traffic, unlike the situation this time around when vehicles were allowed to be parked in the innermost lanes of both of the carriageways of the highway.

After the match, there were a number of hire cars and private cars working as hire cars which were soliciting passengers while being parked in front of the stadium. This caused a terrible back-up of traffic on both days. I hope that the organizers would revisit this situation since better could and should have been done.

Since the 2007 World Cup it had been observed that there were serious defects with the exit arrangements in the design of the stadium. These were compounded this time around because of administrative bungling, none more so than on Sunday when persons exiting the stadium had to go through two camel’s eyes while the large main gate remained closed. That gate should have been opened to allow for the large crowd, believed to be the largest to attend a cricket match in Guyana, to exit the stadium.

In addition, the parking lot north of the stadium only had one exit and this created a nightmare situation and long delays for fans trying to get out of the lot. When the stadium was designed there should have been exits created to the east and behind the stadium. This would have made things much easier.

The hiccups that were experienced should be a learning experience because come next year, when the ICC hosts the World Twenty20 tournament, there will clearly be a need to do much better than was done last weekend.

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