Region Ten Chairman responds to ‘school sports’ allegations

Nov 29, 2008 Letters

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Dear Editor,
As Chairman of Region 10, I had initially refrained from commenting on the various statements attributed to the President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union and others in the media, which in the main appear to condemn and vilify the 48th National Schools’ Track & Field, Cycling, Swimming and Teachers’ Championships hosted by Region 10 this year.

However, certain of those comments, struck a chord with me, especially those which appeared in the Stabroek News and Kaieteur News of Thursday November 28th, 2008, which spoke of the possibility of the hosting of these National Championships being denied to Region 10 in the future.

It is on this score that I wish to itemise a few points, and ask a few direct queries of the organisers of this national event, since as I understand it these games are hosted by the Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers’ Union.

The Regional Democratic Council of Region 10 is extremely satisfied that this Council has discharged all within its power to ensure that these Championships were conducted in the most satisfactory manner possible.

Indeed, as early as during the first week of September, I convened a meeting of the G.T.U. officials, Regional Education Officer and the Regional Executive Officer to discuss our preparations for the hosting of these championships, followed by update meetings at which all of the arrangements for the hosting of these games were discussed in the presence of the G.T.U. officials including its President Mr. Colwyn King and Mr. Lance Baptiste among others.

Indeed, it was heartening to note that the G.T.U. President Mr. Colwyn King stated his satisfaction with the preparations for these games on the N.C.N. News in Linden.

It is a fact that there were problems with accommodations for some of the officials for the games, since, when these persons arrived at the venue designated for this purpose on Monday November 17th, 2008, it had not been prepared for this purpose as committed to by the Regional Administration, and for this I apologise deeply to those persons affected by this shortcoming.

However, we worked assiduously to rectify these and all subsequent issues, with the Regional Education Officer reporting that on Tuesday November 18th he had closed down an additional school to deal with the reported discomforts at the designated Games Village, and prepared the Watooka Day Primary School to accommodate at least 400 of the participants of these games at this additional venue.

I subsequently chaired a meeting with the G.T.U. officials, the Regional Education Officer and the Regional Executive Officer, where other issues of concern were discussed and solutions adopted to address these issues.

All of these measures were taken against the backdrop of ensuring the smooth execution of the games, and I have not since heard of any complaints from officials or participants that would seem to warrant the utterances I referred to earlier.

Indeed, it should be noted that while this is no excuse for any shortcomings in arrangements for these games, District 10 has participated in earlier editions of these games under similar and worse hardships in other communities, without any calls for these communities to not be allowed to host these games in the future!

I am also very pleased with the work of the team who prepared the Mackenzie Sports Club Ground for these Championships in the face of inclement weather.

Indeed, while it may have appeared that the weather only intervened during the competition, we here in Linden know that the weather interfered with the preparation of this venue for most of almost a month prior to the games, and so the result of the work of these men and women, given these constraints, is to be highly commended.

Additionally, please keep in mind that according to the records available to me, these Championships have been rained out completely at least twice, and so the work to ensure that this did not recur given the weather, again, is commendable.

I have been informed, and have no reason to doubt the veracity of this report, that no official protest against the official results has been lodged in writing, and only one protest has been lodged with either the Chief Field Referee or Track Judge.

Indeed, the Jury Panel is yet to adjudicate on any protest for these championships as they would if an acceptable result could not be gained from either of these two officials. If this is so, and even if it is not, could someone explain the process for protesting these results and indicate what has been done to address same?

On the issue of the “protest” over the results of these championships, how pertinent is this when District 10 has a clear margin of over 100 points over their nearest rivals (District 6, who I understand has accepted these results), when in 2007, District 6 lost by a margin of less than one point and no “protest” resulted?

I have attended these Championships when they have been hosted at Enmore, at Albion, at the G.C.C. Ground Bourda and at the National Stadium, and I can state unequivocally that the support of the public when these games are held in Linden is second to none.

My heartfelt thanks are therefore directed to all of the Lindeners who supported this activity, on every day of the competition, for their support and perhaps more importantly for their excellent deportment in supporting their team.

To deny Lindeners another opportunity to do so smacks of discrimination at the highest level, and I would only advise that the G.T.U. get its act together as the officiating corps for these games and leave pronouncements like these where they belong, behind closed lips.

The point of the crowd support and excellent participation and deportment of Lindeners in this activity brings me to the first of my questions: Why was District 11 allowed to slow-march past the Honorable Prime Minister of this country, the President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union and the Regional Chairman of Region 10, as well as a full-capacity crowd of Lindeners with a coffin bearing the inscription “R.I.P. Region 10?

Is there no sanction forthcoming for this definitely unsportsmanlike behaviour by this team, and will the Ministry of Education or the Guyana Teachers’ Union please speak out just as publicly on this issue as on the others?

The people of this Region, who acted admirably in restraining themselves in the face of this great provocation on the opening day of these championships deserve no less, and this act speaks of an intent on the part of some to ensure discord in the conduct of these games.

When, according to the remarks attributed to him in some sections of the media, the President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union advocated that the National Championships should never return to Linden, was he presenting a consensus of the views of the Guyana Teachers’ Union?

This point is important in that an individual or personal opinion could be excused, but if this is a policy decision of the Guyana Teachers’ Union, the Regional Democratic Council of Region 10 disagrees with this stance and requests that this organisation withdraw this stipulation, while we look forward to dialogue with the organisation to address any issues of concern that may have led to this determination.

I would like to ask Mr. Seon Bristol, Meet Director of these 48th Championships, whether the official results of these championships, which he announced on television here in Linden are valid, now that I can reasonably assume that no claims of being ‘under duress’ can be asserted?

I have noted with some concern that the hard work and sacrifice of the athletes and parents of those athletes from District 10 is being threatened with the proposed nullification of the results of these championships, and would like to ascertain from the Meet Director Mr. Seon Bristol, who I am informed is the competent authority to pronounce on this issue on behalf of the G.T.U.’s Sports Committee, when these athletes will be able to collect their hard earned medals and trophies?

Since all of these assertions and comments are in the public domain and are being discussed around the world (I have heard comments from Lindeners resident overseas who are less than enthused with the current situation as it relates to these games and their results), and since I have been repeatedly told that these games are an undertaking of the Ministry of Education, I am encouraging the Honorable Minister of Education to make a public pronouncement on each of these issues I have itemised here, in order to allay the concerns of the residents of Region 10.

Finally, I was more than surprised at the absence of senior officials from the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport at these games, especially since there are not one, but two Ministers in our Education Ministry.

While those in attendance at the Opening Ceremony were given an excuse for these absences by the Honorable Prime Minister, I was bemused to note that the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport chose instead to kick off a street football tournament in Georgetown.

I therefore would like to call on these Ministries to assert their support of this activity, where approximately 1600 of the best of the nation’s young athletes come together to compete, representing the largest gathering of sporting talent in Guyana at any one time, more vigorously, visibly and publicly!

In closing, I look forward to a complete retraction of any intent, implied, stated or intended, to deprive Region 10 from hosting these Championships in the future, since I am unaware of any issue which arose during the execution of these games that could not have been addressed with adequate and early funding for this activity.
Mortimer Mingo
Regional Chairman – Region 10

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