Letter to the Sports Editor... ECB hostel being held hostage by executive members

Letter to the Sports Editor… ECB hostel being held hostage by executive members

Sep 17, 2015 Sports

Dear Editor,
The Essequibo Cricket Board Hostel was built about eight years ago under the stewardship of former President Mr. Alvin Johnson, with funding mainly from the Guyana Cricket Board through the Stanford initiative. Its key purpose was to host teams arriving from distant areas including inter-county teams from Demerara and Berbice, hence minimizing the financial burden on the ECB. Additionally the Hostel was to provide a firm basis for the growth and development of the Essequibo players by way of encampment since the facility has provisions for practice and it is in close proximity to the Anna Regina Community Centre Ground.
Recently the North Essequibo Cricket Committee (NECC) coordinated a 20/20 Cricket Tournament in the Pomeroon and had invited the Lusignan Sports Club from the East Coast of Demerara to participate. Given the distance at which the tournament had to be played as well as the team having to travel to Essequibo, the NECC formally sought the use of the Hostel to host the players. Contact was made to both the Secretary and President of the ECB, Mr. Brian Christiani and Mr. Fizul Bacchus respectively. They both vehemently refused permission to use the building without providing a valid reason.
This has been the attitude of the ECB towards me and the NECC. The Hostel is currently not in use except that it is being occupied by an extended family, all of whom are related to the Secretary. The conditions under which they were allowed to occupy the hostel are unknown to the Constituent Members of the ECB. I am extremely disappointed as a former President of the Essequibo Cricket Board and who was instrumental in ensuring that the building was secured, maintained from being infested by bats and rats and even painted.
As such the blatant refusal by the executives is a clear indication that they are committed to ruin the conscientious efforts of the NEEC to promote cricket in the Region as well as to frustrate and deny the cricketers the legitimate right to have access to a sports facility that was intended to be readily accessible.
This is totally unacceptable and therefore I am appealing for some decency and morality to be restored in the administration of the ECB. The Hostel must not be held hostage by any executive member while in contrast they use it at the whims and fancies of their wishes. Many times the facility is being used by certain executive members for their own purposes while in other instances chairs, mattresses, kitchen utensils are being unconditionally removed. There is no inventory. In one case some utensils were loaned for an executive’s wedding in Wakenaam. I later visited the member’s premises and was appalled in the manner in which the items were stored. They were placed on the ground and were in an insanitary condition.
In other instances the Hostel is being rented to a number of organizations, yet there is no income to show for its usage. It continues to be mismanaged and can now be described as a White Elephant. Apparently it is not for cricketers anymore but for family members of the ECB instead. I hope that the relevant authorities will intervene and that the Hostel will be rescued from the unscrupulous manner in which it is being managed and returned to the cricketers.
Prince Holder
PRESIDENT
NECC

Editor’s note: According to the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) the above mentioned tournament was a private one and was not sanctioned by the GCB. The Hostel at Anna Regina is jointly owned by the GCB and the ECB and could not be used unless the WICB approves any tournament and no such letter was sent seeking permission from the GCB or the WICB.

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