Minister of State Joseph Harmon on Wednesday said that the government will not pay the US$500,000 claim presented by the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) unless the organisation produces a written agreement it had with the previous administration.
At the same time, Harmon said that the government is in full support of the Guyana Amazon Warriors team, which has done extremely well so far in the 20/20 cricket tournament and will cheer it on to win the title that has eluded it for the past two years.
According to Harmon, there is distinction between the relationship which CPL has with Guyana and the Amazon Warriors franchise, which are two different entities.
“CPL made a claim on the Minister of Finance and on me and as well as the Minister of Tourism that they were owed this money which was outstanding to them, this US$500,000,” Harmon said.
He said he has since met with officials from CPL and made it clear that the government was not inclined to pay any money in the absence of an agreement in writing between the government and CPL.
“What we also did indicate to him (was) that if he can in fact produce that written agreement, then we would be minded to look at the claim itself but everything starts with a written agreement and that is the way governments do business,” he pointed out.
No such documentation was produced but the government did provide assistance, such as tax waivers for the equipment coming into the country, and will continue to do so since cricket is important to Guyana. The minister said the government also committed to negotiate with CPL in the future on any rights which they claim.
Harmon said it is important to note that in every other Caribbean jurisdiction in which the tournament is played, CPL has a written agreement with the individual governments and the current government does not see why Guyana should be treated differently.
