BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IN light of a request made by Minister of Sport Hon. Glenn Phillip at last Thursday’s sitting of the Cabinet, Wednesday, July 11 has been declared a public holiday in support of the upcoming West Indies vs. New Zealand One Day International Cricket matches to be played at Warner Park.
This declaration was made public through a Post Cabinet Briefing issued yesterday (June 18) by the Minister of Education and Information, Senator the Hon. Nigel Carty.
“In anticipation of a series of One Day International Cricket matches between the West Indies Senior Team and New Zealand to be hosted at Warner Park between July 11 and 16, Minister of Youth Empowerment and Sports, the Hon. Glenn Phillip, requested of the Cabinet of Ministers a declaration of July 11, 2012 as a public holiday.”
Carty said Minister Phillip submitted that the growing number of international sporting events taking place in St. Kitts and Nevis augurs well for the social and economic development of the Federation and he was strongly of the view that the declaration of July 11, the date of the first One Day International (ODI) Cricket match, as a public holiday should serve to boost the attendance of young people, in particular, and cricket fans, more generally, at the cricket matches.
“He contended that the ODI matches between the West Indies and New Zealand held here should achieve the goal of heightening the interest in the traditional sport among our young people, and long-termly improving our performance at all levels in the sport of cricket,” he added.
Carty also stated that Minister Phillip asserted that the request was supported by the St. Kitts Cricket Association’s Management Committee and the St. Kitts-Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce as well as a wide cross-section of the cricket-loving public.
The Information Minister said that a formal announcement of the declaration would be made in the government’s official Gazette at a later date.
