Dear Editor,
The Attorney General, Mr Anil Nandlall, was afforded prominence for his response to my letter in all three dailies (‘It behoves any executive…‘ SN, Jan 18; ‘AG needs to clarify…‘ SN, Jan 15).
My letter addressed 7 major points which I had anticipated the AG would have responded directly to, but effectively he only addressed the last point, albeit, in a negative manner. The majority of his letter sought to explain and/or camouflage the discussions and opinion of the Chief Justice, which he widely quoted, although he chose not to dwell on those sections that did not promote his agenda.
If, just for a moment, we were to extrapolate from the Attorney General’s argument for the government’s action, the Guyanese public would love for him to comment on the broader issue of how the government intends to deal with all the unincorporated associations in Guyana, such as the football federation, the basketball association, the table tennis association, the boxing board and all the other sporting organizations along with the PPP/C, PNC, AFC and all the political parties. Is the government going to disband them all and form IMCs? What about the Berbice Cricket Board, the Demerara Board and the Essequibo Board along with all their associated members?
It has been clearly explained by several notable legal authorities, that even though the CJ’s opinion is that the GCB and all such other sporting associations and political parties (by extrapolation) were legal nonentities, they were not illegal bodies. They have existed for generations and are governed by their own constitutions which serve to dictate their modus operandi. As a layman, I can understand this and can clearly state that the government’s action is illegal.
It is clear that Mr Bissoondyal Singh was not in a position to win the GCB’s elections and tried to delay the AGM. An injunction was handed down against Messrs Bissoondyal Singh, Claude Raphael and their team in February 2011 in relation to the DCB. No effort is being spared by these forces to frustrate the GCB in its operations, but the GCB has been cooperating and allowing full access to all the investigators and auditors to conduct their work. Its usual auditor, PFK Barcellos conducts an annual audit in January of every year. After the allegations of financial impropriety by the so-called cricket officials to the Minister of Sport, Design & Construction was appointed to conduct a forensic audit of the 2 hostels. The Minister also appointed his PS to attend monthly meetings of the GCB, which was also accommodated by the GCB. Then, the Friendly Society Registrar stopped the scheduled AGM of the GCB in January 2011 under the pretext that they had not yet given clearance to the accounts. They then instigated the Rupert Foster investigation which was completed some time in March 2011 but has not yet been released by former Minister Nadir who seems to be still studying same. It was only until May 2011 when the Chief Justice squashed the registration of the GCB with the Friendly Societies that the way was paved for its AGM to be held on July 10, 2011. Again, a legal battle was mounted by Claude Raphael to stop this AGM but was unsuccessful. Then, we had the Angela Haniff injunction which stopped the operations of the GCB until late August 2011. Immediately after this, then President Jagdeo summoned everyone to inform them of the government’s position to install an IMC, which was stoutly resisted by the GCB. There was then a lull just leading up to the national elections, and then the official announcement came just days after the swearing in of the President. In between all of this, the media have been peppered relentlessly with a barrage of negative publicity by these powerful forces against the GCB. Who can operate in such an environment? It is a tribute to the voluntary hardworking officers of this Board that we had a T20 team representing Guyana last week.
The Attorney General has taken pains to advise us, repeatedly, that the process long predated his appointment, and that he is not the sole architect and chief protagonist of this action. However, he has been representing Mr Bissoondyal Singh in a multitude of legal matters, at least since December 2009.
It is very easy to make allegations about financial impropriety, but such allegations can cause severe damage to any person‘s reputation and character, and as such, special care should be taken before making or repeating such statements. I am aware that a forensic audit was ordered by the Ministry of Sport last year about the two hostels constructed by the GCB and the five months’ Rupert Foster investigation and audit followed that audit which was instituted to deal with the said allegations of financial impropriety. The Rupert Foster report needs to be released immediately as all his findings concerning financial irregularities are contained therein.
Finally, I wish to advise the Attorney General that I do exist and am very close friends with some key members within the cricketing fraternity, hence, my in-depth knowledge of the manufactured crisis. I am not a frequent visitor to the local bars which may account for my low profile, but I regularly engage the cricket officials on the issues at hand. In addition, I must admit that I am a bit fearful of victimization as I distinctly remember what happened to Rovin Stanley last February. I challenge the Attorney General to release the Rupert Foster report in its original format and I will make contact with him so that he can verify my identity which will prove that I am not on the executive of any cricket board.
Yours faithfully,
Intikhab Sankar
