Letter to the Sports Editor…Naim Chan clears the air on Unity SC/Shiv Chanderpaul issue

Apr 09, 2013 Sports

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Dear Editor,
Please permit me space to respond to a letter in another section of the media dated 2nd April 2013 Re:” No one authorised to collect funds on behalf of Shiv Chanderpaul Academy” and signed by Shiv Chanderpaul.
Shiv is our hero. We respect and love him. Regrettably, a situation has developed that forces our hand to go public because of Shiv’s misguided excursions in the press, in which he makes a grave allegation of financial misconduct against me, and by extension the members of the Unity Lancaster Sports Club (ULSC).
The ULSC was resuscitated in October 2012.  I was elected president. The club immediately identified a series of projects to work on. The first was to honour our heroes— Shiv Chanderpaul, who was born into the same club, and the great West Indian speedster Colin Croft.
Unfortunately, Colin’s name was dropped because Shiv Chanderpaul refused to have his face and that of Colin’s on the same billboard.  He refused to even negotiate on this issue.
At the resuscitation the club was penniless. To honour Shiv would have required approximately $1.5M. The club set out to accomplish this difficult mission. I approached the business community and raised over $600,000.  These were the donors of cash: GUYTRAC $360,000; Buddy’s Pool Hall $100,000; Regal Stationery $50,000, Quality Seafoods $50,000, AFS Shipping $25,000, Surendranauth $25, 000, Ink Plus $20,000, a business friend of Shiv’s (Sheriff Street) whose name I can’t remember $10,000, Elegance Jewellery $25,000 and New GPC $30,000.
This was insufficient but the club’s executive, Vice President Dr. Errol Bassoo, Secretary Mr. R. Goolghar, Treasurer R. Dyal and myself kept spending our personal money just to make Shiv proud. The donors of kind included Mr. Sheik Mohammed (Shiv’s buddy pal, spokesman and confidante) for all the trophies and printing expenses, Giftland Office Max, Global investment and above all Andrew Arts for a huge ($500,000) billboard, BK Int. and Nauth construction for the (lights). There were a few thefts.
We honoured Shiv at a great ceremony and floodlight game with all the national players playing. NCN radio was live. All the commentators (myself and Inderjeet Persaud) volunteered our comments free of cost. The club ran a bar-b-que and bar.
The proceeds from this totaled $373,000. We were able to honour this legend in a grand way on 8th December, 2012.  At the ceremony we also announced the launch of the Shiv Chanderpaul academy.
The monies realised from that occasion, were all expended on improving the main pavilion to introduce boxing and karate. In fact we ran short and could not complete that project. We can justify this item for item.
Our next mission was to raise funds to operate Shiv’s academy. I received a letter of consent from Shiv and wrote to the following potential sponsors late last year: DIGICEL, Sterling Products, Scotia Bank, GUYOIL and Banks DIH.
In January Mr. Sheik Mohammed (whom we communicate with on all matters relating to Shiv) said to me repeatedly that Shiv wants his letter back because we are abusing his name and collecting monies all over the country.
My reply was that Shiv needs to write us saying this and we will return his letter.
I communicated Shiv’s “pull out” to all of the above stated ‘Potential Sponsors’. We received no money for any academy. I neither wrote to, nor received any donation for Shiv’s academy from any other person. Not one cent. The academy was scrapped before it became operational. We also never participated in any fund raising venture using Shiv’s name. Not one.
Shiv and people like Reyaz Hussein (personal friends) may shortly be asked to produce evidence before a judge on their claims that letters are circulating and monies are being donated to this club in the name of a Shiv Chanderpaul academy.
Our challenge to Shiv is to bring forward the evidence.  I remain astonished and utterly surprised that our hero has gone public accusing us of receiving money in his name. Somehow, I believe this is not coming from Shiv himself. There must be an intellectual author.
From December 2012 to current, the club has held one fund raising event which was a Fun Park for the kids on 30th March 2013. This was almost entirely sponsored by Sterling Products. We raised just over $150,000 which we have in hand. This was the club’s project. Shiv’s name or – academy was never used to sell this event.
His charge of extortion and fraud levelled against the club, is rubbish and that is now a subject of discussion with our lawyer. It is funny when someone like our hero who has never donated a piece of equipment, a ball, or even pay the club’s subscription fee of $400 per month for himself and son, but uses all of the club’s facilities, can now be so brazen as to accuse the club’s executive of fraud.
Talking about fraud, maybe the good cricketer can explain what is the club’s practice net doing at his home and which is now being used by him and his family only, along with the club’s lawn mower and cricket gear which were all accumulated under the Chetram Singh administration.
The club is now running a small academy for children free of cost. The club’s executives are paying for this from their pockets. Maybe Shiv should donate a ball or a dollar or come show a child how to bat. But then again our hero is not made of that stuff.
Naim Chan

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