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Hear Me Out – Charles Ramson Jr.’s legacy in sport
…accessibility, funding and the great facility failure
Charles Ramson Jr.
By Rawle Toney
Kaieteur Sports – As President Irfaan Ali prepares to unveil his new Cabinet, speculation swirls about who will take the reins at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.
Before weighing in on the future, it is worth reflecting on the recent past, specifically, Charles Ramson Jr.’s tenure. His five years as Minister were defined by admirable accessibility and unprecedented funding, yet ultimately overshadowed by an unforgivable Achilles’ heel; the failure to deliver sporting infrastructure.
It’s important to set the stage. Ramson wore three hats, Culture, Youth, and Sport, but my analysis is confined to the one area I know best. For more than 20 years I have covered sport in Guyana, both as a journalist and as an administrator. What follows, then, is not armchair commentary but observations from someone embedded in the system.
ACCESSIBILITY AND FUNDING – TWO BIG WINS
In my professional career, Charles was the most accessible Minister of Sport I’ve dealt with. He answered the phone. He showed up to meetings. He engaged with associations consistently, and many federations would likely say the same. This was not a Minister hidden behind bureaucracy. He was visible and willing to listen.
Ramson also brought a genuine appreciation of sport to his post. His understanding of cricket and basketball was not cursory. He knew the language, the culture, and even found the time, when possible, to join the Sunday morning (basketball) sweat. That kind of engagement, while symbolic, matters. It allowed him to connect with athletes and administrators in a way his predecessors rarely managed.
Most importantly, Ramson changed the conversation around funding.
For years, associations struggled to wrestle government support for national teams, grassroots initiatives, and even national championships. Under Ramson, that changed.
Associations, at least those I’m familiar with, benefitted from full funding for international competitions and domestic programmes. That was no small feat, and it elevated the morale of many athletes who often felt left behind by successive governments.
THE FACILITIES FIASCO
But for all the goodwill Ramson built through accessibility and funding, his legacy will be defined by the Ministry’s failure to deliver facilities. And that failure is glaring.
Take the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. Renovations began in 2022. Fast forward to 2025, and the facility, our premier indoor arena, remains unfinished.
Meanwhile, the new Demerara River Bridge, one of the country’s most complex infrastructure projects, broke ground in 2023 and is already well on its way to completion. The Mackenzie Sports Club is also far from finish.
Even more damning is the comparison with the athletics stadiums in Linden and Berbice. Announced nearly a decade ago under the APNU Government, they remain mired in delay. And during this same period, highways, schools, hospitals, and housing schemes have risen across the country and are already operational.
When juxtaposed against the billions funneled into sport under President Ali’s administration, the shortcomings are even harder to stomach. Since 2020, a record G$21.61 billion has been allocated to sport. The Ministry’s budget ballooned from $805.3 million in 2020 to an unprecedented $8 billion in 2025. On paper, it’s a golden era. On the ground, however, the absence of completed facilities tells a different, more sobering story.
THE HARSH REALITY
This is where the analysis gets uncomfortable. A Minister who was accessible, supportive, and athlete-friendly will not be remembered for those qualities. Instead, his legacy will be dominated by steel frames, unfinished stands, and empty promises. Facilities are the most visible barometer of progress in sport, and in that respect, the Ministry failed under Ramson’s stewardship.
To be fair, no Minister of Sport has ever had the resources Ramson did. His predecessors operated with a fraction of the budget. But with unprecedented resources comes higher expectations, and here is where the Ministry stumbled.
THE VERDICT
So, how should Charles Ramson Jr. be remembered? As a Minister who was there for the associations, who understood the culture of sport, and who secured unprecedented funding. But also, as the Minister under whose watch not a single major facility was completed, despite record allocations.
In politics, perception matters, and perception is unforgiving. While Ramson deserves credit for changing the tone of engagement with sport, he is unlikely to return to the Ministry.
Accessibility and funding may win headlines, but facilities, or the lack thereof, write legacies, and that, more than anything else, will define Charles Ramson’s time in office.
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Brilliantly done Rawle. Deserved kudos for telling it as it actually is. As always.
To all that you’ve said, I’d also add that the two most glaring stains on Guyana’s Sports Ministries for the past two decades has been a) the failure to recognize the historical significance of the Bourda cricket ground by having allowed it to to deteriorate to its current state, and b) the failure to acknowledge Guyana’s very rich cycling history through the construction of a world class velodrome.
Just my two cents additions to what was again your very brilliantly written analysis.
Sincerely
Tony McWatt