Two CARICOM prime ministers – Jamaica’s Portia Simpson-Miller and Trinidad and Tobago’s Kamla Persad-Bissessar – have called for “great change” to West Indies cricket.
They are standing in solidarity with each other over what Persad-Bissessar is calling the disrespect shown to Simpson-Miller in her battle with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB).
Their main grouse centers around a statement issued by the WICB last month in which the board accused the Jamaican prime minister of not having “the benefit of the full information pertaining to the matter of which she spoke.”
The WICB also said it was “further disappointed that the relevant officials in Jamaica did not, or do not properly brief the newly-elected prime minister.”
The WICB did so after Simpson-Miller said Jamaica was not granted a Test match in the upcoming Australia tour as she also complained about continued exclusion of Jamaican cricket star Chris Gayle from the West Indies cricket team.
The two leaders expressed their unified stance on the matter while speaking to reporters at the opening of the 23rd Inter-sessional Meeting of the Conference of the CARICOM heads of government, which was held last week at the Royal Torarica Hotel in Paramaribo, Suriname.
“I think it is very disrespectful of the WICB in the statements made following upon that made by the prime minister,” Persad-Bissessar said.
Persad-Bissessar and Simpson-Miller met for the first time in their respective roles as prime minister since Simpson-Miller won her country’s general elections last year. Their meeting occurred on International Women’s Day.
AP Photos/Ramon Espinosa
