The proposed amendment to the constitution of the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) was a hot button issue at the organisation’s Annual General Meeting yesterday at the Lusignan Community Centre where Bissondyal Singh was returned as president unopposed.
Members from the various clubs under the DCB umbrella suggested that changes be made to aspects of the DCB constitution, which was drafted some 18 years ago. Singh also promised that a Constitutional Reform Committee will be set up to ring in these changes.
These proposals were made since there are two factions operating in the DCB and both sides held their elections yesterday at different venues.
Both sides have held out that their elections are legitimate and the two sides are currently locked in a legal battle in the High Court.
Last evening, Singh reiterated that the position was legitimate and boldly stated that for the past few years; cricket administration has attracted some unsavoury characters.
He also stated that when the constitution was drafted in 1992 it was intended for persons who had noble intentions.
“I believe in 1992 when they drafted the constitution it was meant for people who intended to be gentlemen just like the game is a noble game. And I believe at that time those persons who drafted the constitution believed that the administrators would also have that same kind of acumen.
“Unfortunately, over the years things have changed and we have attracted all sorts of people in cricket administration and the constitution we have is not geared to deal with all of these indifferent activities and so there are a lot of things that need to be addressed,” Singh explained after his second term election.
According to Singh it was discussed that persons should not be allowed to conveniently use the constitution to suit their agenda. He indicated therefore that the constitution should be used specifically to develop the game, a point some of the members alluded to earlier during the meeting.
He added that any new constitution should have systems in place where members must be held accountable for their actions, whether savoury or unsavoury. This was also supported by delegates at the meeting and his first Vice President, Roger Harper.
He pointed out that persons on the last board were able to act with impunity and nothing could have been done about that situation. With this, he pointed out that there should not be such persons serving in any public office.
“There will be provisions in the constitution to address these situations and more so the [current] constitution is vague when it comes to the development of cricket. There needs to be a more expansive construction in that area,” Singh declared.
Having said that, Singh expressed pleasure with the team that was selected to take the cricket in Demerara to next level. According to the Singh, who is also the VP of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), this is a better team than his last executive body.
He indicated that work will start immediately and within four to five months there will be a turnaround in the way things are done in Demerara. Next week a meeting will be convened with all committees to get the ball rolling since there will be far more cricket being played in the county.
He stressed that Harper will be tasked with cricket development and he has a plan to improve on what was previously obtained.
When Stabroek Sport spoke with Harper, who is also the president of the Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA), he said that a professional executive body was appointed and he expects that all will work together to lift the level of cricket in the county.
He noted that Demerara teams have not performed as well on the field as they are capable of especially when one takes into consideration the quality of players in the county. And this he believes is attributed to the way the game has been managed.
“I hope that this executive can really put things in place to enable our players to play as we know they are capable of playing – to their true qualities – and go on to dominate cricket in Guyana”, Harper concluded.
The new executive comprises of: Bissondyal Singh (President), Roger Harper (First VP), Pretipaul Jaigobin (Second VP), Edward Richmond (Treasurer), Nigel Bissoo (Assistant Treasurer), Davteerth Anandjit (Secretary), Samaroo Jailall (Assistant Secretary), Shawn Massiah (Competitions Committee Chairman), Manoj Narayan (Marketing Manager), Neil Barry (Public Relations Officer), Claude Raphael (Trustee), Ronald Williams (Trustee) and Izam Ali (Auditor).
All these positions were unopposed.
