Dear Editor,
With World Cup Cricket around the corner I cannot help but wonder if this event would elevate or embarrass Guyana. There are serious issues regarding this novel event that must be immediately addressed instead of waiting for the fans and teams to arrive.
Firstly, the issue of the Cheddi Jagan airport. It is estimated that over 8,000 visitors will arrive over a three- day period; this translates to nearly 30 planes. Can the airport handle ten planes per day? Imagine, for instance, the scenario around Christmas where three airlines arrive within an hour of each other. The airport is plunged into massive confusion. Waiting time at Immigration is horrendous while the mad scramble for luggage compares aptly with fowls fighting for rice. Such (recurring) lopsided situations spell disaster for all cricket lovers and dire embarrassment for the organizers. On the issue of perceived improvement in passenger services the same sloppiness and ethnic uniformity from the Burnham days persists to this day. Sad to say, the name change from Timehri has done little to improve the handling of passengers and packages. A very pertinent phenomenon to note is the fact that the first persons visitors will encounter are members of an institution not known for its courtesy and integrity for Immigration officers are still policemen.
Transportation along the East Bank will become a nightmare: we see glimpses of it already. Have the cricket authorities geared themselves for the challenging logistics of players’ transportation from hotels to grounds? Is there adequate security for all visitors and cricketers alike, especially from the riffraff that hang around on the airport tarmac? The stadium may be a wonderful achievement; however, cricket will be played in Guyana, not only in the stadium. Can the hotels really handle the accommodation of 4,000 tourists, (the other 4,000 will likely stay with relatives)? And would their stay be secure from the ubiquitous “choke and robbers?”
Hopefully the cooks have planned a wide range of dishes suitable for the wide range of nationalities. Bigan choka for Ponting and his Down Under team would not work as well as for the boys under Inzamam-Ul-Haq or Raul Dravid. Of course there is enough foo-foo for the Kenyans.
ICC Chief Executive, Malcolm Speed has expressed fears over tour logistics and the poor social infrastructure of many Caribbean countries. As any high placed executive would do, he asked for patience and understanding, no doubt with the assessment that there has never been such an event in this part of the world. Logistics aside, this event is destined to be a financial disaster, notwithstanding the Guyana exchange rate of 202 to the US dollar.
Finally, the capability of the West Indies team is in the doldrums. From administration to attitude this once unbeatable team has back somersaulted into a medley of wannabe stars. As the joke goes: a judge awarded custody of an abused child to neither mother nor father both of whom regularly beat her. When asked by the court who she would like to keep her she replied, “the West Indies Cricket team sir; they don’t beat nobody”.
Yours faithfully,
Leyland Chitlall Roopnaraine
