Guyana will dish out US$1.5M (approximately $300M) to host the finals, semifinals and four other matches in this year’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 series, according to Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman who said yesterday that it is a good investment particularly for the country’s economy.
Trotman, who was at the time speaking at a post-cabinet press briefing at the Ministry of the Presidency, informed that the cost is still to be finalised. Discussions are ongoing and negotiations are still being conducted by the Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan who is to wrap up the cricket deal on behalf of government.
He told reporters that when the APNU+AFC government assumed office there was an outstanding bill to the government from CPL of US$500, 000 for which documentation could not be “readily provided”.
He said that through interventions made from overseas, a group including several ministers met with a CPL team last late year. “We managed to arrive at what we believe is a settlement because even though there was no documentation to support the claim of US$500, 000 being owed we believed that in the interest of cricket, in the interest of good relations, in the interest of the future of the sport that we should come to an amicable resolution”, Trotman said.
He stated that what was attractive to government was the CPL’s organisers offering to have Guyana host the finals, semifinals and four games. He said that this would be a great plus to celebrations in Guyana’s jubilee year.
Trotman informed that the initial request from the organisers was in excess of US$2M and he noted that while the government is still to confirm the final figure, the last figure he had was around US$1.5m.
“We are doing everything possible to bring the games to Guyana”, he said.
Asked whether the government views this as a good investment, he answered in the affirmative. He reasoned that this is Guyana’s jubilee year and that the three West Indies cricket teams (Under 19, men and women) have performed well in recent times.
“We believe having cricket here, having international stars in Guyana and just the festive mood would be a good injection into our economy. Sometimes you can’t put a dollar value to the strengthening of cricket in the Caribbean.
It has taken a beating and we believe that this tournament being held in Guyana will not only serve Guyana’s purposes but also the Caribbean’s”, he stressed.
