Dear Editor,
A letter that was carried by your newspaper, headlined ‘Lack of funds, poor planning meant UG could not participate in either UWI Games or Hampton Games,’ by Elton Bollers was brought to my attention (SN, May 29). While I am not directly responsible for sports at UG, as the officer ultimately responsible for sports, I find it necessary to make the following observation. The author of the letter attended a meeting where there was full disclosure on the matter of the tours. Additionally, all of the attendees at the meeting were allowed to express their views on the matter and related matters.
The coach even beseeched them to take the opportunity to raise any matter of concern and not resort to ‘sue-suing’ outside of, and/or after, the meeting.
This was all informed by the good governance principles of openness and accountability that are embraced by my office. Lo and behold Mr Bollers never aired his lofty views in the meeting but found it prudent to chide and lecture the sports administrators in the newspapers.
His motive is difficult to determine but it certainly cannot be the mere desire to make a meaningful contribution to the improvement of the administration of sports at UG, unless naïvety and immaturity prevailed. Nevertheless, we will endeavour to continue our good governance practices even as we strive to improve our administration. However, we will not substitute the letter columns for face-to-face dialogue, when opportunities of face-to-face dialogue are available.
Yours faithfully,
Vincent Alexander
Registrar
University of Guyana
