Dear Editor,
As a long-standing supporter of the GTM Fire Insurance Company Ltd, I was extremely disappointed to learn that GTM has partnered with the illegal Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) by sponsoring the 2013 Under-19 Competition.
GTM quite rightly did not offer sponsorship to the GCB in 2011 and 2012 because of the chaos and confusion that had enveloped that Board and cricket in general, including allegations of financial improprieties and illegal elections. There has been no change in the cricket situation and again, the elections that were purportedly held in January 2013 were illegal as the Berbice Cricket Board did not take part and the Demerara Cricket Board was injuncted.
As in 2011, the Essequibo Cricket Board was the only county board that took part in the elections and constitutionally no one county board can hold elections for the GCB. It follows, therefore, that the GCB elections of 2011 and 2013 were both illegal. Why then did GTM sponsor the 2013 Tournament after taking the moral high ground in 2011 and 2012?
By forging ahead with the 2013 sponsorship, GTM has sullied its long-standing association with the promotion of youth cricket. A very poor example has now been set for our youth cricketers, ie, that the cricket has to be played even when it is consumed in illegality. One expects that all cricket stakeholders, including the sponsors, would contribute in a meaningful way to ensure that our national game is played and administered in a proper and decent manner.
Kudos to the Hand-In-Hand Mutual Fire Insurance Company for having taken a principled position by instructing the illegal Demerara Cricket Board to put on hold their sponsorship of the 2013 Second-Division Competition.
A lot of trust is displayed by the insuring public in insurance companies and it is expected that good and sound judgment would be pivotal in the decisions taken.
Yours faithfully,
Gobin Etwaroo
