Tweet
Re: Govt spending $105m US to prepare for the world
Claiming ignorance after the fact
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
The blame game, we see, has finally started.
Last week, Barbados' deputy prime minister Mia Mottley was reported as expressing disappointment at the restrictions placed on cricket fans for the current Cricket World Cup tournament being played in the region.
According to a BBC Caribbean report out of Barbados, Ms Mottley is blaming the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for accepting the restrictions imposed by the tournament organisers, the International Cricket Council (ICC) - restrictions that we all agree have dampened the spirits of the Caribbean people.
Measures such as allowing musical instruments into the stadia only if prior approval was granted, and refusing spectators the convenience of carrying their own bottled water were really ridiculous and demonstrated insensitivity by those who formulated and agreed to these rules.
Gladly, the imbecilic water restriction was lifted early in the tournament, and last weekend we received word that the organisers ruled that starting with the Bangladesh vs South Africa game last Saturday in Guyana, spectators would be allowed to take musical instruments with them to the games without getting permission in advance.
We cannot recall, in the run-up to the tournament, the people of the Caribbean being informed that they would be allowed to take musical instruments to the games on condition that they first got permission. In fact, it was clearly stated that this feature of Caribbean cricket would not be allowed.
So the ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007 Inc, the company formed by the WICB to organise the tournament, is really being disingenuous by announcing now that all along, all that spectators needed was permission to take musical instruments into the grounds.
But back to Ms Mottley who, according to the BBC Caribbean report, said she was unhappy to see the watering-down of Caribbean cricket culture during the tournament, because of what she regarded as poor judgement by the WICB at the negotiation stage.
We also heard from the Grenadian prime minister, Dr Keith Mitchell, who chairs Caricom's Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Cricket. "It is clear that some of the things that were accepted by our negotiating team may not have been the wisest, in terms of crowd participation and involvement of the people," Dr Mitchell was reported as saying.
Last week as well, our very own finance minister, Dr Omar Davies, told a meeting of Parliament's Standing Finance Committee that the nine Caribbean host countries were dissatisfied with the revenue-sharing arrangements with the ICC. He also suggested that a legal view could be sought on the issue.
"There is a clear need to examine whether there is any legal recourse," Dr Davies said in response to a query from the Opposition as to whether Caribbean governments would share in the revenue the ICC was making from television rights, given the enormous debts the region would be left with after the tournament.
In his exchange with the Opposition, Dr Davies was clear that there was need for, as he puts it, "tougher bargaining" with the ICC.
All that, we agree, is true. However, we are puzzled by the seeming ignorance of these Caribbean government leaders.
For really, it is the Caribbean governments who are hosting the Cricket World Cup. Therefore, we expect that they would have ensured that the interests of the region and its peoples were protected.
<span style="color: #CC0000">If, as they are now trying to have us believe, they were not fully apprised of the CWC negotiations, they really should not be running the affairs of the region.
For simply put, what Dr Davies, Dr Mitchell and Ms Mottley, who was vice chair of the Caricom security ministers committee, have now told us, is that they are guilty of dereliction of duty.
</span>
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/editorial...ER_THE_FACT.asp
Claiming ignorance after the fact
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
The blame game, we see, has finally started.
Last week, Barbados' deputy prime minister Mia Mottley was reported as expressing disappointment at the restrictions placed on cricket fans for the current Cricket World Cup tournament being played in the region.
According to a BBC Caribbean report out of Barbados, Ms Mottley is blaming the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) for accepting the restrictions imposed by the tournament organisers, the International Cricket Council (ICC) - restrictions that we all agree have dampened the spirits of the Caribbean people.
Measures such as allowing musical instruments into the stadia only if prior approval was granted, and refusing spectators the convenience of carrying their own bottled water were really ridiculous and demonstrated insensitivity by those who formulated and agreed to these rules.
Gladly, the imbecilic water restriction was lifted early in the tournament, and last weekend we received word that the organisers ruled that starting with the Bangladesh vs South Africa game last Saturday in Guyana, spectators would be allowed to take musical instruments with them to the games without getting permission in advance.
We cannot recall, in the run-up to the tournament, the people of the Caribbean being informed that they would be allowed to take musical instruments to the games on condition that they first got permission. In fact, it was clearly stated that this feature of Caribbean cricket would not be allowed.
So the ICC Cricket World Cup West Indies 2007 Inc, the company formed by the WICB to organise the tournament, is really being disingenuous by announcing now that all along, all that spectators needed was permission to take musical instruments into the grounds.
But back to Ms Mottley who, according to the BBC Caribbean report, said she was unhappy to see the watering-down of Caribbean cricket culture during the tournament, because of what she regarded as poor judgement by the WICB at the negotiation stage.
We also heard from the Grenadian prime minister, Dr Keith Mitchell, who chairs Caricom's Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Cricket. "It is clear that some of the things that were accepted by our negotiating team may not have been the wisest, in terms of crowd participation and involvement of the people," Dr Mitchell was reported as saying.
Last week as well, our very own finance minister, Dr Omar Davies, told a meeting of Parliament's Standing Finance Committee that the nine Caribbean host countries were dissatisfied with the revenue-sharing arrangements with the ICC. He also suggested that a legal view could be sought on the issue.
"There is a clear need to examine whether there is any legal recourse," Dr Davies said in response to a query from the Opposition as to whether Caribbean governments would share in the revenue the ICC was making from television rights, given the enormous debts the region would be left with after the tournament.
In his exchange with the Opposition, Dr Davies was clear that there was need for, as he puts it, "tougher bargaining" with the ICC.
All that, we agree, is true. However, we are puzzled by the seeming ignorance of these Caribbean government leaders.
For really, it is the Caribbean governments who are hosting the Cricket World Cup. Therefore, we expect that they would have ensured that the interests of the region and its peoples were protected.
<span style="color: #CC0000">If, as they are now trying to have us believe, they were not fully apprised of the CWC negotiations, they really should not be running the affairs of the region.
For simply put, what Dr Davies, Dr Mitchell and Ms Mottley, who was vice chair of the Caricom security ministers committee, have now told us, is that they are guilty of dereliction of duty.
</span>
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/editorial...ER_THE_FACT.asp
Comment