Minister Ramson talks about his 100 days in Office

Nov 15, 2020 Sports

By Sean Devers

Burnham Park and some drainage works which has begun.

At the young age of 36, the honourable Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports is youngest Sports Minister in Guyana and spoke about his 100 days as a Minister as a guest on Friday Night’s Sean Devers Sports Watch on Kaieteur Radio.
“I don’t think I am able to say what has been my biggest achievement in my first 100 days but what I could say is that I am pleased about overall is the team at the Government level, meaning the Cabinet and the President and the energy that is being driven into the Government programmes.

Charles Ramson Jr. Minister of Culture, Youth Sport.

I am also pleased about the ideas coming out of the President and the Cabinet and about the aggressive way it is being advanced,” said the Minister who grew up in Prashad Nagar in Georgetown.
“At our Ministry too, I think over the last five years it had become almost like a disappointment of a Ministry, we saw one Minister that held the position, wanted to be the Minister of Health and the other one…. this was after the Ministry had been had been relegated to just being departments so you no longer had a Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, you had departments in the Education.
And because Education is so big that you could never have department of Culture, Youth and Sport operating in a prominent way, it will always be subsumed and consumed by the Ministry of Education so that was not a good idea.
The other Minister that held the post felt as though this was a relegation, him being placed there as Minister of Social Cohesion and Culture, Youth and Sport.
Me on the other hand, I think it is the most important Ministry you are talking about the next generation of Guyanese people.
That’s one and two, Culture is the one thing that binds every Guyanese, we have an identity as Guyanese people and culture is that invisible fabric that holds a group of people together but also give them a unique identity,” Said the Minister who said a lot of his sports policy is driven by Science.
“As it relates to the Ministry, I believe that because it was not given the attention and strong leadership it needed, one of the things I am pleased about is how we have been able to drive our programmes and also develop our culture and raise the profile of the Ministry in a short space of time, it’s a Ministry that is showcasing itself because it is showcasing young Guyana’s talent,” said Ramon, a former Everest left-arm Spinner at first division level.
The affable Ramson admitted that he was disappointed with the progress of work done at the proposed Stadiums in Regions 6 and 10.
“I am not pleased with the work done at the Stadiums I visited in Berbice and Linden, they are way behind schedule but they are not overrun, at least that’s not my assessment.
By that I mean they have not exceeded the budget but they are far behind and in fact they had only restarted work because the Government had changed.
So those two Synthetic tracks I would like to see them get their act together, but we are driving the process from our end but there was not the kind of attention needed,” continued Ramson who attended Stella Marris Primary, Queens College and UG.
Minister Ramson informed that the Covid-19 Pandemic has been tough, especially on the Youth programme and forces the Culture programmes to be broadcast on a virtual platform.
“It has really affected sports since it has prevented the sports persons from practicing their craft.”
Ramson said the naming of the Stands at the Providence Stadium with outstanding individuals in the field of cricket has not been dealt with at this point but it was something he as a person supports but added that he was not speaking on behalf of the Government or as Minister.
The Minister said the Government and his Ministry has already started working on the ground enhancement project which has a budget set out for that.
During his short time in Government the Minister met with the heads of the respective Sporting Associations and expressed satisfaction in the attitude towards helping to play a part in the National development of Sports.
Talking about the National Sports Policy, Ramson explained that it would be a policy of the Government, adding that, what they have is just a draft policy which could be implemented in a few months after discussions with the various Associations who are all in possession of the draft Policy.

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