Dennie Quill, Contributor

Like it or not, Cricket World Cup (CWC), the world's third largest sporting event, will be staged in the region and the opening ceremony takes place in Jamaica in a matter of days. We have seen a flurry of activities over the last several months, with feverish construction taking place and road and other extensive infrastructure being put in place. Luxury BMW motor vehicles and fancy buses are rolling in.

Reports indicate that things are not coming together as smoothly as the organisers would like, especially in Montego Bay, but I am optimistic that Jamaica will put on a good show.

Having said that, I believe it is legitimate for us to raise our sights above the tournament itself to consider what benefits will accrue to this poor island nation after such an enormous investment.

An important question is this: are the investments being made for Cricket World Cup being done at the expense of the poor who make up the majority of our population? Because while we continue to renovate, beautify, build and decorate, the farmers and other citizens of St. Mary have been deprived of a bridge, and now have to tread a dangerous path to get to school and work.

Capital could be better spent

Cricket fan though I am, I have found myself attracted to the side of those who argue that this outlay of capital could have been better spent. For one thing, Jamaica could have participated in the World Cup on a much smaller scale. More affluent countries like Trinidad should have taken on the staging of the opening ceremony. I don't care what the Minister of Tourism wants to say about that. We are a poor country and don't want to admit it.

Take the developments at Sabina Park. I have asked these questions before, and since no one has answered, I ask again. This is a private members' club, yet the Government has pumped millions of dollars into the facility. Is it a loan? Is it a grant? Is it a gift? At the end of the day, does Kingston Cricket Club continue to enjoy sole ownership of this facility? Why haven't we been told about the financial arrangements for this massive renovation?

I bet my last pair of socks that if this were a private sector undertaking, clear and precise details would have been provided. After all, most private sector companies are accountable to their boards. But this is Government.

Politicians are always claiming that they are on the side of the poor. How is Cricket World Cup benefiting the poor? I know many poor who are not benefiting. The poor hustler who would normally sell some food - coconut jelly, sugar cane, soup, etc., at sporting events, has been effectively cut off from a livelihood by absurd restrictions laid down by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

From their lofty positions, these wealthy men of leisure dictate a welter of ridiculous restrictions without due regard to the economic environment in which all this is taking place. And the pompous politicians who form the Government did not insist that the small man should have a share of the spoils. So the poor cannot afford to buy tickets for the events and they won't be able to peddle their wares. Essentially, the poor have been banished from enjoying any of the spoils of CWC.

Smug complacency

I have taken this view because of the smug complacency that I see among the ICC, Government and politicians, as they anticipate hobnobbing and feasting over the next few weeks. There is frustration everywhere, but poor people's problems, struggles and dreams are placed on the back burner.

We live in a country where income is being redistributed with all of the gains going to the top few, yet the Minister of Finance cannot address the income tax threshold, which will ease the burden of those at the bottom.

We live in a country that is prepared to construct a spanking stadium that will require $2 million monthly for maintenance, but we cannot find the money to repair a bridge on which the entire livelihood of a community hangs.

There is a name for this, and it is economic injustice. This is the kind of stuff that divides and destabilises a society, and a way has to be found to place the most vulnerable at the core of public policy. I hope we will not be the worse off for the choices we have made in favour of CWC.