Delegates of the three counties will have to wait even longer for the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) elections after the scheduled meeting yesterday with officials of the Friendly Society was postponed to April 4.
Word coming out of the Labour Ministry, which governs the Friendly Society, was that the Permanent Secretary, Trevor Thomas, was unable to attend yesterday’s meeting since he was tied up in another meeting.
When Stabroek Sport spoke with him briefly yesterday, he said that he still could not disclose any detail of the report, which should have been discussed yesterday.
Last week, Registrar of the Friendly Society Kareem Jabar said yesterday’s meeting with the executives of the GCB was aimed at resolving the dilemma that has been facing that body for the past two years.
Jabar had said that a lot of accusations have been levelled at the GCB and the meeting was going to provide closure to murky goings on at the board. The review of the GCB’s entire operations has been completed and after the meeting the onus will be on the executive body of the scandal-plagued organisation to move ahead and hold elections and institute other plans that may be in the pipeline.
Jabar also stressed that he could not say anything on the findings of the report that was submitted by Mr. Foster until he meets with the divided GCB executive.
Some members expressed disappointment yesterday that the meeting was not able to go ahead, citing that they want to move on from this prolonged episode that is stalling progress at the GCB. On the other hand, they welcomed the work of the Registrar’s office to conduct a forensic review of the GCB’s operations.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour, Human Services & Social Security had met with the executives of the GCB on February 8 to outline the procedures and other requirements that must be met before the Registrar of Friendly Societies could give clearance for the holding of its Annual General Meeting (AGM), which was originally scheduled for January 30.
The Registrar had to be satisfied with the Audit Report of the society (in this case the GCB) before this report is released and the AGM held. The AGM cannot legally be held without the Registrar releasing the Audit Report.
There have been widespread allegations and speculation about mismanagement in relation to the GCB. The recent Audit Report, while not pointing to any fraudulent activity or mismanagement, had raised “several concerns” which in the opinion of the Registrar had to be addressed before he releases the report to facilitate the AGM.
It was against this background that a decision had been taken to have a full enquiry into the Board’s operation.