Cricket, football and the Marriott Hotel project

Dec 24, 2012 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

---

There is a division in football. There is a division in cricket. There is a division on whether to build the Marriott Hotel.
These divisions are multiplying the headaches of the Guyanese people at a time when they are supposed to be enjoying the fruits of ongoing economic growth and development.
This column looks at the three divisions so as to understand their sources.
The division in local football has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with competition between two corporate beverage giants. One is supporting one football tournament and the other is supporting the other.
Local football and the fans are being caught in the middle since one football association has sanctioned one tournament and the official federation has sanctioned the other.
Like last year, the finals of both competitions will be held on the same day, thereby forcing fans to split their loyalties, and forcing teams also to decide which tournament they will play in.
This division was exploited last year for political purposes but the source of the division in football is not political in nature.
In local cricket, there are also divisions. There are two Demerara Boards. But this division is not a political division in the sense of each faction having its own political support.
One faction is independent of politics and the other faction has the support of powerful political figures within the government who have their own agenda towards the administration of cricket.
The opposition parties are about to consider a Bill tabled by the government before the National Assembly. This Bill would effectively place the administration of cricket under the thumb of the government.
Such a development will mean that Guyana will not be allowed to participate in international or regional cricket because there is no way that either the International Cricket Council or the West Indies Cricket Board is going to respect any formation that arises out of a government- inspired process.
The opposition does not understand the motivations behind the plan to takeover cricket. It is not to put things right. There was a mechanism in place which would have allowed by now for the disputing sides to resolve their differences. But the government is not interested in resolving anything concerning cricket. The government wants to prevail.
What the government is after is control because there is big money to be made in cricket and in fact the West Indies cricket Board will soon have its own 20/20 league to match those to the IPL, the Champions League and the Big Bash.
The oligarchy in Guyana had the foresight to recognize that cricket is a money- spinner and the government appreciates the political capital that it can earn by being in control of cricket in Guyana.
As such it launched one of the most vicious campaigns to unseat and unravel the existing cricket board. This campaign has involved open political intimidation which would not have been risked in any other sport.
This shows how important to the government is the control of cricket. They want to get their hands on the administration of cricket so that they can reap the political benefits and their cronies can profit in the process.
The opposition is being naïve as regards the legislation and should repel it because it is the most dangerous piece of legislation. There are business and political interests behind the plan to take over cricket and these interests have coalesced.
The same coalescing has taken place as regards the construction of the Marriott Hotel. The construction of this hotel represents a serious challenge to two business interests. The old bourgeoisie class knows that the new oligarchy will be enriched by the construction of this hotel. They therefore want this hotel to be stopped because they fear the implications for their own survival.
On the other hand, the government which is siding with the new oligarchic class wants this hotel to be built to strengthen its reach in Guyana.
Caught in the middle are the people of Guyana who are being wooed to either support this hotel project or not to support it.
The divisions here are both political and economic since there is a merger between the government and the new oligarchic class and there is an opposition party that has ties to a member of the old bourgeoisie class that is opposed to the construction of this hotel.
The people must understand these dynamics because politicians like to invoke the interests of the people when they are pursuing the interests of the propertied class be it in football, cricket or in the construction of the Marriott Hotel.

---

---