GUYANA has succeeded in its bid to be among venues for World Cup Cricket 2007.
To the relief of cricket fans here and abroad, it was among the eight countries in the region named Monday to host matches in the premier tournament.
Other countries in the running were not so fortunate and Guyanese everywhere should realise the signal honour accorded this country in being named among the match venues.
The national psyche, already battered by the recent crime wave and interminable acrimonious political wrangling, would have suffered further severe body blows if Guyana had lost out in the World Cup 2007 bid.
There was an almost collective national sigh of relief at the news that Guyana had clinched the venue bid and it should be a matter of national pride from here on to ensure that the road to hosting the match is smooth and not potholed with further internal strife.
Heads of government of the eight Caribbean Community states chosen by the London-based International Cricket Council to host World Cup Cricket 2007 were all smiles Monday as they respectively greeted the news at their current annual summit in Grenada:
President Bharrat Jagdeo said he was "very happy that Guyana has also been chosen. We will be very focussed in doing all that's possible and practical to make it a memorable occasion".
Prime Minister Keith Mitchell of Grenada, current CARICOM Chairman and head of the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee for Cricket, told a media briefing that "this is very good news".
Dr. Mitchell said that all of the host countries would be spending "many millions of dollars" to ensure appropriate infrastructure facilities are in place for the thousands of cricket fans from the cricketing world expected for World Cup 2007.
CARICOM, he stressed, was pursuing a coordinated approach in areas of security, health care, customs and immigration, air transportation and other facilities to ensure the best possible satisfaction for the series.
A major task for Guyana is getting the new 20,000 seat stadium being built at Providence on the East Bank Demerara ready on time but the prime movers behind the project seem confident that that could be achieved.
The choice of venue was subject to careful scrutiny by inspectors from the international cricket hierarchy and all those who led the lobby deserve no small degree of praise for seeing Guyana past the first major hurdle.
But great care has to be taken that this prestigious achievement is not blown.
The police and allied agencies have to continue the anti-crime fight to ensure criminals are kept at bay and that visitors are not deterred from coming here for fear of their safety.
The capital city and areas around the stadium would have to be given a giant facelift to help shake off the unflattering image and reputation gained through neglect and a lack of comprehensive `keep clean’ programmes.
Above all, political stability would be as essential to the successful staging of World Cup Cricket 2007 here as it is to attracting direly needed foreign investment.
National elections are scheduled in 2006 and the security forces and contesting political parties would have to pull out the stops to avert a repeat of the outbreak of violence in the city that has followed elections here since October 1992.
Such ugliness in the run-up to the staging of World Cup 2007 here could mar the joy that hosting such an event could bring to a young nation.
It should be rallying time from now on for all those who so dearly want to see this country move on and hold its head high among the nations of the world.