- stadium to be Carifesta hot spot
By Miranda La Rose

Two reports on Guyana’s staging of the Cricket World Cup 2007 matches have not yet been made public a year after the event and the board of directors to oversee the affairs of the Guyana National Stadium at Providence is still to be set up.
According to Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr Frank Anthony, his ministry is still awaiting the audited financial report from the Office of the Auditor General. All the statements have been submitted to the Office of the Auditor General, he said, adding that he expects that within another two weeks the audited report would have been returned to the ministry after which the expenditure and other financial matters would be released.
The financial statement would be appended to the general report, which was prepared by the disbanded Local Organising Committee headed by Karan Singh and both would be released at the same time. Dr Anthony would not give an indication of how much money the government spent in infrastructure and other works to host CWC 2007 until the audited financial statements are completed. Guyana’s expenditure has been conservatively put at US$55M.

Asked about the establishment of the board of directors he had said last year would be set up to oversee the affairs of the stadium, Dr Anthony said that, “We haven’t identified or named anyone as yet to sit on the board.”
The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, which has the overall responsibility for the stadium has a structure in place for the board including the composition of the board, he said adding that some discussions on the establishment were being finalized.

In the meantime, the stadium manager Anthony Xavier and a staff are managing the day to day affairs of the stadium, which Dr Anthony said has been kept substantially busy with a number of activities mainly towards the end f last year and since the beginning of this year.

He said that there were a number of national and regional cricket matches in addition to the just-completed test match between West Indies and Sri Lanka, as well as other entertainment activities including concerts and the Guyana Night exhibition and cultural extravaganza. The stadium has also attracted a number of tours, particularly by schools countrywide.

National teams also use the automated bowling machines for practice in preparation for overseas tours and regional matches held locally.
Asked whether the activities have been generating sufficient funds to maintain the stadium, he said that to date this has not been the case even though it has been generating some funds based on its fees charged for the rental of its facilities.

He said there was a fee structure in place for national and regional matches. The fees charged are a percentage higher than what was charged at the Georgetown Cricket Club ground at Bourda because the product, including seating accommodation and other facilities, is far superior to what obtains at Bourda. There was also another formula for arriving at a fee.

The ministry has this year budgeted “a couple millions of dollars” for operating costs and staff, he said but he expects that it would not be a burden on taxpayers. “This year we can break even and even make a profit,” he said with the events the stadium would be hosting.
The just concluded test match between the West Indies and Sri Lanka was however poorly attended as were some of the World Cup matches.

The stadium would be one of the hot spots for Carifesta, he said, noting that the opening and closing ceremony would be held within the stadium and four ‘super concerts’ featuring regional artistes would also be held there. It has not been determined whether they would be held within the stadium proper or outside the stadium.

In relation to the establishment of a gym at the stadium, Anthony said that a space has been identified for it but it was now a matter of procuring equipment.
In terms of the installation of floodlights, he said the driving of the piles was completed and the contractor last week began pouring cement to secure the foundation that would accommodate the towers some 80 metres above the ground. The money for this project was budgeted for last year.

He expects that the towers being secured from the US-based MUCSO Lighting Company will be in the country by the middle of this month. “By month end, we should have lights [at the stadium],” he said, adding that “the stadium lights would extend the usage of the facilities there.”

In terms of protecting the fittings and facilities during events, he said it was difficult policing patrons. He said in the agreements for the rental of the facilities, provision is made for security and cleaning up after the event but there would be breaches.