Dear Editor,
In 2010 Daniel Felix was leading the 6km road race event and was hit by a vehicle. Cyclists were made to ride through dangerous traffic owing to the lack of proper arrangements by the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) for athletes’ participation at the 2010 National Schools Championships.
The year 2011 had its share of controversies which included the participation of the son of the head of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and meals provided on a particular day of competition for athletes which were described as unhealthy for human consumption.
Let us just hope that the organising committee of the 2012 NSC has systems in place for the smooth sailing of the national event and that all sponsorship funding from the business community is accounted for in a transparent process. Athletes must be the prime beneficiaries. If it means that a financial report should be prepared at the end of the event and audited by an accredited audit firm, to my mind, that will represent ‘smooth sailing.’
One very important aspect of the hosting of the national event from November 19-23, 2012 as reported in the dailies is that it should be mandatory for all tickets to be torn in half by officials/committee members at the entrance. I have personally experienced officials taking my daily tickets and then being told to carry on without any explanation.
I have to admit that I am currently on cloud nine after learning from the dailies that the host venue will be the National Stadium at Providence. I have lobbied for this decision from the beginning of 2012 and it has now become a reality.
Yours faithfully,
T Pemberton