Letter to the Sports Editor…Alvin Johnson deliberately avoids the cricket conspiracy charges

Aug 20, 2013 Sports

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Dear Editor,
Alvin Johnson’s letter in the Kaieteur News of 16 August 2013 is clearly more of an attempt at self-defense rather than an objective response to my concern that those persons holding themselves out as officers of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) are illegal and are presiding over the demise of Guyana cricket both at the playing level and the administrative level.
Johnson as a former President of the Essequibo Cricket Board (ECB) and Vice-President of the GCB must know the proper and legal methodology for conducting elections of the County Boards and the GCB. That he has aligned himself to the GCB which was unconstitutionally elected by only the ECB does not reflect favourably on his credibility, and infers that he is more than willing to set aside his integrity and morality in order to secure the “coveted position” of manager.
I expect someone who has the qualification that Johnson took the trouble to outline should know the difference between right and wrong and must use that principle to guide his loyalty. It is for this very reason I conclude that Johnson and others have been rewarded by the GCB with paid positions as officials as a trade-off for their highly compromised loyalty. If Johnson’s qualifications merit his selection as manager, then he may care to explain by what standard his fellow Essequibians, Virendra Chintamani and Nazeer Mohamed, were appointed as managers of our national teams. Never before has there been such an influx of Essequibians as officials, but not cricketers, to the national teams. Maybe it had something to do with the fact it was only the Essequibo Board that on two occasions illegally installed the GCB Executive. Quid pro quo. As a career teacher, Johnson should be able to teach his fellow Essequibians the true meaning of loyalty and the serious consequences of their participation in illegal elections.
How does Johnson feel that his County Board does not have a cricket structure nor a coaching programme, has not played a 3-day competition for fifteen years, is so bereft of cricket talent at all levels that it has to select players from Georgetown and other areas to make up its county teams and even has a reputation of not producing financial reports.
Has Johnson ever used his vast experience, qualifications and ‘loyalty to cricket’ to speak out against these glaring short-comings of the Essequibo Board. Now that he is the Assistant Treasurer of that Board, he can explain and account for the millions of dollars remitted to the ECB and which have never been accounted for. Quid pro quo. How does Johnson feel that his fellow Essequibo Board member, Aotto Christiani, up to the recent elections held positions of Secretary, Treasurer and Administrator of the ECB whilst providing transportation and catering services for the GCB when matches are played in Essequibo.
As I write, Christiani is still the Administrator of the ECB while holding the key position of secretary. Maybe Johnson, with his self-proclaimed ‘loyalty to cricket’ can speak out against this clear and reprehensible conflict of interest. Johnson must be aware of the amounts of monies sent and made out in the names of known individuals of the Essequibo Cricket Board Executive rather than directly to the Board itself.
Johnson, as President of the Essequibo Board, did nothing to improve the standard of cricket there, failed to attract the requisite amount of sponsors to play competitions and did not conduct a single Cricket Academy. Also, as a resident of Parika, East Bank Essequibo, Johnson seldom visited the other Area Committees during his term as President. In the end, he lost the support and confidence of the entire Essequibo and was humiliated when also he lost the Presidency to Sheik Asif Ahmad by the massive margin of 14 to 2. His 2 votes came from himself and the other representative of the East Bank Essequibo Committee.
I therefore unreservedly and unhesitatingly repeat my earlier comment that it smacks at the root of indecency that certain Essequibo individuals, including Johnson himself, have been appointed in paid positions to manage our national teams. I am firm in my belief that it is a trade-off for the loyalty of the Essequibo Board in installing a very dubious GCB Executive.
In conclusion, I would like to suggest to Alvin Johnson that he utilizes his ‘extensive qualifications’, cricket and otherwise, to advise the GCB group which he loyally serves on a quid pro quo basis to accept the Parliamentary process as the proper procedure for bringing order, decency, accountability, transparency and sanity to our beloved national game if indeed he is sincerely committed to the cause and not to himself.
Winston G. Boston

 

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