The official Opening Ceremony for the CARIFTA Games 2008 is scheduled for Friday March 21, at 5 p.m.-8 p.m., at the Bird Rock Athletic Stadium. This ceremony will be free to the public. All invited guests are invited to be seated by 3:45 p.m. Ticket Sales: The general public is hereby informed that tickets for this week’s CARIFTA Games will go on sale at the Bird Rock Athletic Stadium, as follows: Thursday, March 20 – 2 p.m. – 7 p.m. Friday, March 21 -2 p.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, March 22 Sunday, March 23 and Monday March 24 -9 a.m. – noon The ticket booth is located on the basketball court. Please note that no personal checks, credit cards or debit cards will be accepted. Company checks however are allowed. Ticket Prices: Grand Stand Seating -EC$35.00 Uncovered Bleacher Stand -EC$30.00 Grass Mound, (Grounds)-EC$25.00 Adults & Children below the age of 12, EC$10.00 Access Points: The access gate for the general public with tickets is located next to the basketball court. Access for VIPs is located d one. We are just now getting two seats. It made no sense now that both parties have equal representation in parliament to be wrangling over the position when he had been the previous Leader of the Opposition. We felt it was important for our support to go behind Mr. Brantley. We are confident that any of us who have been elected into opposition could have fulfilled the role as admirably as Mr. Brantley,” he said. PAM has been charged with appointing a senator to the opposition bench, however both Hamilton and Richards declined to announce the name of that individual. The Observer has been reliably informed that a decision has been made despite the politicians’ claiming otherwise. On the issue of Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Brantley made it clear that CCM has no interest in occupying the position. As Opposition Leader, he would not be eligible for that appointment, leaving only the elected opposition parliamentarians and appointed senator to be selected from. The Hon. Patrice Nisbett formerly held the position but following last month’s general elections had been appointed Attorney General and Minister of Justice and Legal affairs in the new Labour Administration. According to the Constitution a Deputy Speaker must be nominated and elected during the first convening of parliament after a general election and the nominee must have been elected or appointed to parliament. That person would act as Speaker of the House in the absence of the appointed Speaker. Hamilton told The Observer that he would be surprised if the government side chose to nominate a Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly from members of the PAM party that had directly competed against the incumbent Labour party. He was somewhat elusive when asked whether he or Richards would accept if nominated for the position. “I would be very surprised if that’s what the government would want to do; to use its direct opponent as Deputy Speaker. Any such nomination would be seen as something that could prevent the opposition from fully participating at all times in parliamentary debates.” In the event that all qualified parliamentarians reject nomination for Deputy Speaker, Hamilton said he was sure that the government would have considered such a scenario when it made its Cabinet selections. Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil told The Observer just last week that the public would have to wait until parliament had convened next month to know the identity of the new Deputy Speaker.
