Dear Editor,
There seem to be persons out there who are hell bent on creating public mischief and confusion regarding the affairs of the Annual General Meeting of the Guyana Cricket Board. My reference is to a letter appearing in the Stabroek News of July 18, written by Gary Singh, and many news articles in different sections of the media which are completely misleading to members of the public and the cricket fraternity in general. I was a participant and attendee at this AGM and feel confident about the order of the proceedings on that day and have concrete evidence and documentation to satisfy even the most argumentative of persons that the meeting was conducted in accordance with the constitution of the Guyana Cricket Board. Quite obviously as an executive committee member of the expired and current Guyana Cricket Board, I have a copy of the Board’s constitution which states under the section for a quorum: “The quorum for all general meetings shall not be less than 2 members with a combined representation of not less than 12 delegates.”
I have seen numerous articles making reference to this quorum clause in the constitution with the delegates numbering 12 then 14 and now 15 by Mr Gary Singh, if indeed he exists. One would have thought that the reporters that print these inaccuracies would take time out to obtain a copy of the constitution of the Guyana Cricket Board rather than quoting these totally unreliable and misleading or mischievous statements. I am advised that both constitutions of the GCB, the original one that was used prior to the Friendly Societies registration which is the one they have now reverted to, and the one that they used while registered with the Friendly Societies had this identical quorum clause with a minimum of 2 members and a combined representation of a minimum of 12 delegates. So it is mind boggling that this false information is continuously being peddled in the public domain. The former Chairman of the Senior Selectors, Claude Raphael, in his bid to stop the AGM last Saturday, also used the same distorted number of 14 delegates in his affidavit to the court whilst filing in the said affidavit as a supporting document, a copy of the GCB’S Constitution, which stated the true quorum clause of 12 delegates. This certainly made Mr Forde’s job easier. As was expected the Judge threw out their bid to stop the AGM which was filed on flimsy grounds. The game of cricket was made to be played on the fields and not in the courts. Courts are for the game of lawn tennis.
For Mr Singh’s education, this AGM was video-recorded in total, despite strenuous objections from Mr Bissoondyal Singh, and can be used as evidence in a court of law. Mr Singh exposed his inconsistency when he objected to the taping of this meeting; but on the other hand when he was sitting as the President of the DCB stoutly defended his decision to tape the Demerara Board AGM in January 2010, claiming that all meetings should be recorded to get an accurate reflection of the proceedings. Persons would again be able to witness the antics and behaviour of this presidential candidate at meetings. Mr Gary Singh is questioning the bona fides of the 15 members of the GCB. Quite obviously, he is way off on his analysis and pronouncements as the GCB only has 3 members, Berbice Cricket Board, Demerara Cricket board and the Essequibo Cricket Board with each member entitled to be represented by 9 delegates at any general meeting. The Berbice Board’s 9 delegates were submitted by its President himself, Mr Keith Foster, who had publicly stated weeks earlier that his Executive Committee had made a decision not to attend the AGM. This was also done by way of letter to the GCB and copied to numerous persons.
He seemed to have changed his mind and abandoned his own questionable decision by his actions to attend this AGM with his Secretary, Angela Haniff; Vice-President, David Black; Asst Secretary, Carol Nurse and Mr Benjamin. Mr Foster then unilaterally decided that he would participate in the AGM but not the elections which were the last item on the agenda. An argument ensued between Mr Foster and other Berbice delegates. Mr Foster is, quite clearly, very confused and/or ill-advised. Thus, Berbice was represented by 5 delegates and Esssequibo by 9 delegates which totalled 14 delegates which clearly exceeded the quorum required for the meeting.
Malcolm Peters is also now being quoted by some sections of the media claiming that the Berbice Board does not recognize the GCB new Executive, and will not participate in activities of the Board, without giving any basis for his comments, and he is incorrectly referred to as an Executive Committee member of the Berbice Board with no corrections forthcoming from the Berbice Board. We then witnessed the President, Keith Foster, refuting this position. Maybe the BCB should have sought legal advice before the AGM and not after.
The Berbice Board needs to get its act together and harness these persons that are hell bent on promoting mischief and place cricket first as their motto and objective, as it should be. They should also be warned that they could be disciplined by the GCB for their erratic and irresponsible behaviour which runs contrary to the noble ideals that they should be pursuing. These guys need to understand that the AGM and the elections are now over and it is time to put aside all differences, propaganda and electioneering postures, and work assiduously towards developing cricket in their respective areas.
Yours faithfully,
Fizul Bacchus
