Several topics were discussed during the two-day Inter Guiana Games (IGG) meeting in Suriname last week. High on the agenda was the improvement of the Games to ensure it reflects the original intention.
During the meetings which were attended by Guyana’s Director of Sport, Christopher Jones, his Surinamese counterpart, Luciano Mentowikromo and Jean-Claude Mariema, president of the Committee of Regional Olympic Sport of French Guiana, Mariema signed an agreement committing his country to hosting the second leg of the Games from October 27 to 31.
The host country also committed to indicate the disciplines to be contested by Monday, thereafter an inspection meeting is scheduled for September 25 and 26 in Cayenne, French Guiana.
Additionally, Jones submitted several amendments on Guyana’s behalf to the existing protocol, one of which is the lowering of the age requirements for students. Currently, the protocol caters for students under 19 to participate competitively in the Games while Guyana proposes that it should be lowered to under 18 in keeping with the education policy here.
This has been a bone of contention for many years for Guyanese athletes competing in the IGG. The amendments are all intended to come under review for the 2016 IGG protocol.
Jones also shared the history of the Games which began in 1967 and was the brainchild of then Premier Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham to foster a spirit of solidarity.
He then pledged his personal commitment and that of the Government of Guyana to ensure the Games continue to forge closer cohesion among the Guianas.
Meanwhile, all three territories expressed their disappointment in the cancellation of the first leg of the IGG 2015, and it was agreed that this was as a result of miscommunication. The proposal was tabled for a new organization of the IGG which would entail a re-examination of the protocol for 2016.
