The GMR&SC deserves Govt.’s support

Nov 27, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
As a Past President of the GMRSC, I was overjoyed that the Government of Guyana has seen it fit to help with the rehabilitation of the South Dakota racetrack.
For decades this icon of Caribbean sport has been badly in need of resurfacing through no fault of the motor racers. Race cars and bikes could hardly damage a track; rather, it was old age, combined with years of use as a public road for sand trucks and other vehicles that did it.
The executive of the GMRSC has long presented its case to the Government; that if any sport in Guyana deserved their investment, motor racing was certainly one of them. Barbados and Jamaica who understand tourism very well have been investing in their motor racing facilities for years. Trinidad we hear is getting a brand new track, and we, who were once called the ‘mecca’ of Caribbean Motor Racing, continued struggling over the decades.
Motor Racing is one of the biggest sports in Guyana, the Caribbean and the World. Spectator numbers in Guyana annually exceed that of even cricket! We in Guyana get approximately 30,000 annually.
Apart from its obvious historical and cultural value, undoubtedly, the Government has seen their financial input in the racetrack as an investment in sports tourism.
The numbers actually justify this. Over 1,000 from overseas came for the races this November alone. If we calculate that each may have spent US$1,000 in hotel accommodation, entertainment, transportation and meals etc, the tourism income would have exceeded US$1 million in November alone. That’s G$200 million. Compare that to the G$40 million investment in helping to restore our track to what it was once known as; the best track in the Caribbean.
I have it on good authority that the GMRSC will attempt to match the government’s investment and extend the track to create a near world-class facility for spectators and competitors alike.
That the GMRSC’s racers, membership and executive have over the decades featured some of the most successful businesspeople in Guyana cannot be denied, and this is good for the Club and the sport. Some of the racers who come to visit here are amongst the best business persons in the Caribbean and the Diaspora too. I know of at least two awardees of The Caribbean Entrepreneur of The Year whose teams race here: Barbados’ Bizzy Wiliams and our own Jad Rahaman. However, from the spectator numbers in Guyana, the Caribbean and worldwide, one cannot fail to deduce that its activities cater for the widest cross-section of people. Note however, that joining GMRSC is easy and affordable.
Further, one cannot deny that the activities of the GMRSC contribute heavily to nation building by creating employment and opportunities for all the ancillary services that come with hosting racing events. Track workers, caterers, mechanics, welders, weeders, caretakers, bus drivers, tire-shop workers and the list goes on.
No need to debate trickle-down economics; the money goes out first to pay expenses and the profits come afterwards. The GMRSC profits go back to staging racing activities and the cycle continues; no single individual profits from this.
To conclude therefore, the Government’s G$40 million will be matched with the GMRSC’s capital. The investment goes into the economy and in the end we have something that we can be very proud of, which pushes the economy and pays us back several times over in tourism dollars.
The calibre of the overseas visitors who come to race and see the races is also largely representative of the successful business class.
They bring their tourism dollars to spend in Guyana. With our improved facility they will come in even greater numbers.
No wonder countries with still high levels of poverty in some places, such as China and India, are clamouring to lead the world in the creation of new motor racing facilities.
Keith Evelyn
Past President, GMRSC

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The GMR&SC deserves Govt.’s support

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