Norton accuses Government of pollicising cricket

Oct 12, 2022 Sports

– Opposition Leader questions source of funding for Cricket Carnival

By Rawle Toney

Kaieteur News – Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton has accused the People Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) of politicising cricket, following the government’s hosting its Cricket Carnival, centred around the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) playoffs and finals.

It was the first time the finals of the CPL, which started in 2013, were hosted in another territory other than St Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago.

The Government Guyana formed a committee to organise events around the CPL matches, which saw several of the Caribbean’s biggest acts in entertainment performing in Guyana, while culminating activities with a Carnival and road parade.

President Irfaan Ali is well-known as an ardent cricket fan.

“We should not politicize cricket,” Norton said during his weekly Press Conference.

“One thing that was obvious during the so-called Carnival, is that it was aimed at promoting the PPP and not at promoting Guyana and National unity. If one politicizes cricket, we would’ve removed from our arsenal, one of the best opportunities to unify. Cricket has always been a unifying factor and it should always be a unifying factor. One should not bring partisan politics into our cricket,” Norton reasoned.

According to the country’s Opposition Leader, Guyana’s $552.9 Billion National Budget did not cater for the hosting of a Cricket Carnival, as he highlighted, “the Government needs to tell us where they got the money from.”

Though receiving praise for its hosting of events around the CPL, the Government received some backlash on its spending, with many questioning the origin of its funds.

Norton maintains that his office and that of the People’s National Congress, the largest party in the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) coalition, are not against cricket, nor are they against people enjoying themselves.

Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton

“But if you tell me you cannot find money to increase public servants’ wages to a proper level. If you tell me you have to give a one-off $28,000 to pensioners, rather than raise the money and at the same time you are finding money for cricket carnival which will be a short period and it goes and our people are back in poverty, that is where I have a problem,” the Opposition Leader said.

“I have no problem with the idea of a Cricket Carnival. How it is executed, the politicisation of it and clearly it being done at the expense of people being able to cope with the cost of living. I would very much have liked that they were a mechanism to deal with the cost of living, so that when people were going to the cricket carnival, they could live, but they can’t,” Norton lamented.

In the wake of the CPL finals and Cricket Carnival, President Mohamed Irfaan Ali had stated that the Government of Guyana is lobbying and investing, to make Guyana the premier destination for sports tourism and entertainment in the Caribbean.

“We’re working on modifying our horse racing, to make it a premier regional event to attract international participation. Working in the motor racing industry,” President Ali said.

In the area of boxing, the Head-of-State added, “I’ve already asked a team to reach out to the World Boxing Council, to see how we can become a venue for WBC events.”

The Head-of-Sate said the idea is to position Guyana beyond oil and gas, while adding, “what oil and gas does, it gives us revenue to build an infrastructure to support the advancement and broadening of the economy and that is what we’re targeting.”

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News