Dear Editor,
I have been reading with great interest the litany of articles appearing in all sections of the media regarding the nationalization of cricket by the President of Guyana. The Chief Justice carefully outlined his line of thought in arriving at his decision with the issuance of a 10-page ruling from which the Minister of Sport has extracted a few paragraphs to use as his guideline, and some other mischievous persons are clearly using to obfuscate the actual order issued by the CJ. The Order is very clear and specific. The President is also guilty of misusing the explanation of the CJ’s discharge as his authority to intervene in the operations of the GCB. The GCB members and executive need to stand up against this blatant misuse of power by Mr Jagdeo. The concept of legal non-entities relates to the capacity to institute and defend legal proceedings only. This is the limb that the President is leaning on and it has wide ranging repercussions for all organizations. Peeping Tom is totally accurate when he says that the fact that an organization does not have legal personality does not make it illegal. The President would be well advised to back off from this most unpopular action as other sporting organizations are paying close attention to this development.
We have experienced the quality of the grounds that fall under the various NDCs and local authorities around the country and can witness the decline in standards at all types of sport. These grounds are largely unkept and whenever they are in fair shape, priority is given to social functions rather than sports and the development of the youths in our communities. This is a perfect example of how the role and function of the government in providing recreational facilities for our youths has played out. Numerous new housing schemes are being introduced in various parts of the country with little or no planning for recreational facilities. More emphasis is being placed on house lots so as to maximize revenue for the government. This is what government intervention and involvement has brought us.
All other unincorporated and unregistered organizations, similar to the GCB, and the private sector organizations including the political and non-governmental organizations, need to speak out against this dictatorial stance adopted by the President. This action has far-reaching consequences for us all.
Yours faithfully,
Keith Thompson
