– Says PM Hinds at opening of Goodwill Games
By Iva Wharton
The governments of Guyana and Suriname are in the process of forging stronger ties, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds said yesterday.
Hinds made the remarks while delivering the feature address at the opening of the Goodwill games which replaced the annual Inter Guiana Games at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall yesterday morning.
According to Hinds, the two countries are similar in a lot of respects especially in areas of economics and history.
“But largely the history kept us apart when we were parts of different colonial empires of Europe. Now that we are independent, we need to improve our relationships and it is good that that has started with the Inter-Guiana school games because the young people, the youths, are the citizens of the future and our hope and expectations are that as they compete with each other that they will become comfortable with each other and being comfortable in each other’s country.”
According to Hinds the former colonial masters in Europe are themselves uniting through the European Union and the same must be done and very quickly and closely.
Guyana and Suriname, Prime Minister Hinds said are in the process of making their relationship stronger with their intention of building a bridge over the Corentyne River which will bring the two countries even closer together.
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony in his delivery said he was pleased to have table tennis as the new addition to the Inter-Guiana Games.
“I must also comment that they have added table tennis which is a new dimension to the games and I am one of those persons who would like to see the games expand.”
He added that the nations should look at organizing workshops that can assist teachers and coaches to better be able to work with the students.
“I am sure that in Suriname you have best practice in various sporting disciplines and you can share that with us and we of course here in Guyana have experiences that we can share. But the only way we can do that is if we have these special workshops. So I will urge before the next set of games, the one next year, that we organize some of these workshops,” said Dr. Anthony.
Suriname’s Inter-Guiana Games Director Michael Watson said the games have been bringing the three countries in the Guianas together for more than 40 years but said that it was unfortunate that French Guiana was not participating.
Like Dr. Anthony, Watson said he was pleased to have table tennis as the new discipline in this year’s games.
Guyana and Suriname agreed to participate in the Goodwill Games after French Guiana opted out of the annual Inter-Guiana Games.
