Following an acid attack on him on Tuesday night, Assistant Treasurer of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) and the Demerara Cricket Board, Pretipaul Jaigobin says he plans to resign.
Jaigobin believes that the attack was prompted by the fact that he has been very vocal about the malpractices within the GCB. The debate about these malpractices, he told Stabroek News from his hospital bed yesterday, boiled over at the board’s most recent statutory meeting held last Friday.
“After I get through what has happened to me I plan to quit,” Jaigobin told this newspaper. The man said that if this is the result of his honesty then he doesn’t know what could possibly happen to him in the future.
Just after 9 that night, as Jaigobin walked away from a restaurant following “a buddy”, he was attacked by a strange man. The man asked him: “Why you don’t leave my friends alone?” and proceeded to pitch acid in his face.
The cricket administrator said that he was on his way to his Clonbrook, East Coast Demerara home and decided to stop for a beer. He spent a short time at the location. His friend, he recalled, was walking a few paces in front and did not see what happened.
At first, Jaigobin said, his friend thought that it was beer that the stranger had thrown in his face. It wasn’t until he started screaming out that the substance was burning him that the companion realized that it was possibly acid.
It was his companion, he said, who rushed him to the Georgetown Public Hospital. He arrived there some time before 10 pm, was subsequently treated and admitted to the Burn Care Unit. Jaigobin’s chest and face were discoloured as a result of the acid and he complained about difficulty in seeing.
He was wearing his glasses at the time of the attack, he explained, and it is this which saved his eyes from being completely damaged.
Meanwhile, another GCB member told Stabroek News that he believes that the attack was meant as a warning. Recently, irregularities in the board’s affairs have been noticed. These issues, he said, have caused a rift in the cricket board.
Jaigobin has since reported the matter to the police. It is being investigated by ranks in C Division. The injured man said that he did not get a good look at his attacker’s face.
The attack on Jaigobin has since been denounced by several cricket officials. Among them is former Vice President of the GCB and President of the Essequibo Cricket Board, Linden Johnson. Speaking with Stabroek News via telephone yesterday the man said that he was taken aback by the attack and believes that it is a clear indicator of the current state of the cricket board.
“Cricket is one of the better run sports,” Johnson stated, “and if this is what is happening then we are in bad shape.”
This attack, according to him, is clearly aimed at stifling the freedom of speech which should be enjoyed by board members and everyone else. He believes that the attack goes beyond just physically harming Jaigobin and was also intended to instill fear in others as well.
During the years that he has been involved in cricketing, Johnson said, violence to this extent has never been involved.
“This is not how people should be handling their differences,” Johnson told Stabroek News. “They should be able to sit, talk and sort it out like civilized people.”
He also opined that the GCB should not depend solely on the police to get to the bottom of this incident. They should launch an internal investigation no matter how small. The incident has severely traumatized the Jaigobin family.
The current GCB President, Chetram Singh, also visited Jaigobin yesterday and expressed concern about the attack.
