Dear Editor,
It is with total disgust that I have decided to respond to a letter that appeared in your newspaper on Saturday, March 18 (‘The Berbice Cricket Board is in the process of conducting an audit’). The letter was signed by D Somwaru and was a response to letters written by Mortimer George about the current situation affecting Berbice cricket. The response was a libellous attack on me by a man with whom I had worked for a number of years, and his main intention was to tarnish my reputation with the uninformed general public. My name was mentioned over half a dozen times in the letter, which was supposed to be a response to Mr George’s letter which questioned Mr Somwaru’s motive to elevate himself to the presidency of the Berbice Cricket Board when an injunction had been granted against the executive members of the Board by a High Court judge in March, 2015.
I have no personal problem with Mr Somwaru, and as such was totally shocked that he accused me of changing the Berbice Cricket Board’s office lease transferring the telephone service into my name. I would like to publicly state that the GTT telephone service is still in the Board’s name and the same was never changed to my name, and that the Berbice Cricket Board paid the telephone charges in January, 2017. After I realised that Mr Somwaru was not communicating with me and was in the process of sending out letters to change the executives, I continued paying the bills on behalf of the Berbice Cricket Board up to the 15th March, 2017.
Concerning the lease for the Berbice Cricket Board, the landlord of the building has informed me that he never had a lease agreement with the Berbice Cricket Board but rather a verbal month to month agreement over the years, with the rental being paid at the end of the month by the treasurer. The landlord, who could be contacted via phone, gave notice to me in my capacity as the Secretary of the Berbice Cricket Board to vacate and give up possession of the concrete building on or before the 1st February, 2017. He wanted possession for his own use. Having knowledge of and not wanting to be involved in the politics of cricket in Guyana, he approached me and asked what I would do if the situation got worse and possession is given up. I then told him that I want to do my own business; he asked me if I am interested in renting the building to conduct my typing and computer business. I accepted his offer and together we agreed and have decided to enter into an Agreement of Tenancy with an increase on the monthly rental of the building from the month of February, 2017.
I am so delighted that Mr Somwaru has suddenly showed great interest in the development of Berbice cricket. He should not be attacking anyone who has worked beyond the call of duty lifting the standard of the game. The last two Presidents of the Berbice Cricket Board should be very proud of their contributions. Every cricketer in Berbice would know that during the period 2007 to 2015, Berbice cricket was at its best and was spearheaded by individuals like Keith Foster, Anil Beharry, Carl Moore, Hubern Evans, Hilbert Foster, Malcolm Peters, Romesh Munna, Shabeer Baksh, Albert Smith and Robby Saywack, among others.
To my knowledge, no one has ever used the Board in the past or now to make themselves popular or to enrich themselves, and it is a shock that Mr Somwaru would make such allegations against hard-working administrators. The development that took place in Berbice during that period is unmatched across Guyana, and as Berbicians we should be very proud of all our achievements.
In closing, I would like Mr Somwaru to answer these questions for all Berbicians:
- a) Why did he not answer any of the facts stated by Mr George in his letter, instead of attacking me personally?
- b) Is it true that a senior official from Georgetown asked on numerous occasions that Angela Haniff be removed as Secretary of the Berbice Cricket Board before funding would be restored to the Berbice Cricket Board?
- c) He stated that he is in the business of producing cricketers not in getting popular. Can he please provide an example of a player whose career he played a major role in developing.
My hands are clean; I have served Berbice cricket to the best of my ability and can never be accused of corruption. I refused to be a puppet for anyone. My policy in serving any organisation is not what I can gain from an organization, but what I can put into it.
Yours faithfully,
Angela Haniff
