By Kurt Campbell
[www.inewsguyana.com] – The National Assembly, following two hours of heated debate passed the long awaited Cricket Administration Bill on Thursday night (May 15) making the Guyana Cricket Board a legal entity.
The Bill makes provision for the incorporation of autonomous national cricket administrative organizations in Guyana and provides for other related matters. It followed a ruling by Chief Justice Ian Chang, who had said that the national board and others across the country were not legal.
It was first read in the House on December 20, 2012 and was sent to a Special Select Committee where it was under consideration until the report was laid in the House on August 7, 2013.
The Bill was approved without the support of the Alliance For Change (AFC), whose Leader, KhemrajRamjattan criticized the corporate stature of the Bill.
Attorney General, Anil Nandlall had argued that such a model already exist in the Caribbean, adding that the criticism by the AFC Leader was unwarranted and unfounded.
Meanwhile, Sport Minister Dr. frank Anthony pleaded with the House not to reject the Bill prior to the vote. He posited that the Bill will not solve all the problems related to cricket locally but was certainly a step in the right direction.
He said even after the Bill was passed, it will still require the need for all to work together lest division result in hurting the sport. He observed that the Bill was protracted for a long time, dating back four years but reasoned that the legislation was in good shape since it attracted a lot of legal attention.
Dr. Anthony recalled the dissolution of the Guyana Cricket Board and subsequent installation of an Interim Management Committee (IMC).
He said he did not anticipate that the IMC would attract the animosity it did, including the unrecognition by the West Indies Cricket Board.
