PM Joins Discussions on Future of WI Cricket

KINGSTON — Jamaica’s Prime Minister, the Hon Bruce Golding, has joined other top level CARICOM leaders in putting forward proposals to address the current state of West Indies cricket.

Mr. Golding is in Trinidad and Tobago attending the Seventeenth Meeting of the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Cricket (PMSC).

According to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Mr. Golding held critical and in-depth discussions on the current state of West Indies cricket, and looked at the status of relations between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA).

The Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee reiterated that West Indies cricket belongs to the people of the region, to whom the stewardship of the game must be accountable. The sub-committee also made a number of recommendations calling for an assessment of prevailing arrangements for governance of West Indies cricket, to determine whether the best interests of the game in the region and of its people are being served.

The group has also called for a revisit of the recommendations of the Final Report of the Committee on Governance of West Indies Cricket of 2007 (“the Patterson Report”) to determine the extent to which implementation could impact positively on West Indies Cricket.

The Prime Ministerial committee has called for the engagement of the WICB, WIPA and other stakeholders to ascertain their respective positions regarding the charting of a collective course forward. 

Mr. Golding presented Jamaica’s position to the CARICOM Heads of Government on the ongoing disputes between the WICB and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA).

He had raised his concerns during a recent presentation on his live radio show, Jamaica House Live. At that time, the Prime Minister expressed the view that “West Indies cricket belongs to the people, and a way has to be found to ensure that it is the people’s interest that is represented in the management of cricket and to ensure that the people who manage West Indies cricket are held accountable to the people”.

Mr. Golding was also concerned that what has happened is that the cricket “has been captured by all sorts of interests”.

During his visit to Trinidad, Mr Golding also attended the opening session of the third China/Caribbean Economic and Trade Co-operation forum, as well. He will return to Jamaica Wednesday (September 14). Jamaica’s Minister of Transport and Works, Hon Mike Henry, and the Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon Christopher Tufton, are also attending this meeting.

Mr. Golding is accompanied by the Permanent Secretary in his office, Onika Miller. During his absence Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Kenneth Baugh, has been in charge of the Government.

By Balford Henry, JIS Reporter & Editor