According to vice-president of the Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF), Paul Choo-Wee-Nam, the long overdue Annual General Meeting which will facilitate elections of the federation will take place on August 17.
This was revealed through a telephone interview with this publication where the executive of the GCF explained the dire need for elections since the sport is “in a very bad shape.”
Choo-Wee-Nam recalled that elections were due three months ago but has consistently been put off for “informal stuff,” most recently the hosting of the Caribbean Junior Cycling Championships which is expected to grace Bartica on the weekend of August 10-11.
However, when Guyana was revealed as the host of the event in late May, GCF president, Horace Burrowes, had dodged questions relating to the elections of the body.
He had said at the time that the issue was irrelevant despite the four-year term ending adding that he was in good standing with the International Cycling Union.
Burrowes subsequently received much criticism from former presidents of the federation as well as president of the Guyana Olympic Association, Kalam Azad Juman-Yassin who claimed that Burrowes’ position with the UCI was irrelevant to the elections.
Choo-Wee-Nam also disagreed with Burrowes’ position, stating that the standing with UCI has nothing to do with the GCF’s internal elections.
The situation continued when the executives met to discuss the elections but that meeting reportedly ended prematurely after Burrowes adjourned the meeting after an exchange of words with another executive.
According to Choo-Wee-Nam, the meeting continued without Burrowes for several minutes with the presence of the other members including GCF secretary, Maria Leung who said she would “get back to us” on the issue but never did.
Another meeting was called with the members who agreed for the August 17 date.
According to Choo-Wee-Nam, he is “not really interested in the presidency.”
He did says however, that there was a consensus on a slate for him to take up the mantle of the GCF presidency and if asked to serve on the executive, he will.
The veteran rider bemoaned the considerable loss of talented under-23 riders who were considered the future.
Some who said gave up the sport for various reasons including non-selection on national teams.
He also said that he was disappointed with the image the federation has created with programmes such as the “Teach Them Young” attracting lesser new riders every year.
He admitted that it is his intention to see the federation function in the right way and have those that are dedicated to the development of riders and the sport locally take center stage.
