Nothing left to chance for CWC -- Luncheon
By Mark Ramotar
Guyana Chronicle
March 16, 2007
GUYANA will be leaving “nothing to chance” in its determination to successfully host the much-anticipated Super Eight matches of the major Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2007 tournament that will be played here, according to Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon.
The first of the Super Eight matches to be played in Guyana at the spanking new Guyana National Stadium at Providence, East Bank Demerara is slated for March 28.
“Like the Rio Summit, this national event (CWC) dwarfs all others locally and regionally and the administration is leaving nothing to chance in its determination to have a successful hosting,” Luncheon told reporters yesterday.
“For Guyana, success calls for maximum popular involvement, the (best) domestic and regional environment and good cricket.”
Luncheon also said Cabinet is satisfied with the “scope and tempo” of ongoing interventions and preparations by the country for the hosting of the mega CWC tournament.
According to him, Cabinet was provided with the latest update at its last meeting this week on all aspects of the Local Organizing Committee’s preparations for Guyana’s hosting of the Super Eight matches of the CWC tournament.
He said attention was paid to those areas where commitments and obligations have been completed as well as those where finishing touches were being applied.
Cabinet decided to further heighten the overall monitoring and supervision of those interventions and in this regard, Luncheon said a broad-based body - under the control of Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, was appointed and met for the first time Wednesday.
Luncheon assured that no effort will be spared in ensuring that Guyana, like the other host nations, will be security ready and prepared for the hosting of the games.
He said there are and will be “formidable inputs” from the British, the Americans and the Commonwealth as it relates to security for CWC.
Luncheon also noted that none of the governments of the nine host countries are “taking chances” and this is evident by the “most robust” security arrangements that are and will be put in place during the current tournament which opened in Jamaica Sunday. .
He also lauded the international community for playing a very significant part in the overall security arrangements for the tournament in the Caribbean.
In the case of Guyana, he said the British, United States and Indian governments will be making various contributions to the security arrangements during the Super Eight matches.
It is understood that at least three hundred security personnel, drawn from the Guyana Police Force and private security firms, have been specially trained to man the Guyana National Stadium at Providence during the Super Eight matches to be played there.