Letter to the Sports Editor…Disgusted by that Somwaru letter

Mar 22, 2017 Sports

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Dear Editor,
It is with total disgust that I have decided to respond to a letter that appeared in your newspaper on Saturday 18th March, 2017. The letter was signed by D. Somwaru and was a response to letters written by Mortimer George about the current situation affecting Berbice Cricket. The response was a libelous attack on me by a man who I had worked with for a number of years and his main intention was to destroy and tarnish my reputation among the unsuspecting and uninformed general public. My name was mentioned over half a dozen times in the letter which was supposed to be a response to Mr. George’s letter which questioned Mr. Somwaru’s motive to elevate himself to the Presidency of the Berbice Cricket Board when an Injunction was granted against the Executive members of the Board by a High Court Judge in March, 2015.
I have no personal problem with Mr. Somwaru and as such was totally shocked that he accused me of changing the Berbice Cricket Board’s office lease and to transfer the telephone service in my name. I would like to publicly state that the GTT telephone service is still in the Board’s name and same was never changed to my name. That Berbice Cricket Board paid the telephone charges in January, 2017. After I realised that Mr. Somwaru was not communicating with me I was in the process of sending out letters to changes the Executives and I continued paying the bills on behalf of the Berbice Cricket Board onto the 15th March, 2017.
Concerning the lease for the Berbice Cricket Board, the landlord of the building has informed me that he never had a lease agreement with the Berbice Cricket Board but rather a verbal month to month agreement over the years with the rental being paid at the end of the month by the treasurer. The landlord, who could be contacted via phone, gave notice to me in my capacity as the Secretary of the Berbice Cricket Board to vacate and give up possession of the concrete building on or before the 1st February, 2017. He wanted possession for his own use. Having knowledge and not wanting to be involved in the politics of cricket in Guyana, he approached me and asked what I would do if the situation got worse and possession is given up. I then told him that I want to do my own business; he asked me if I am interested in renting the building to conduct my typing and computer business. I accepted his offer and together we agreed and have decided to enter into an Agreement of Tenancy with an increase on the monthly rental of the building from the month of February, 2017.
I am so delighted that Mr. Somwaru has suddenly showed great interest in the development of Berbice Cricket. He should not be attacking anyone who has worked beyond the call of duty lifting the standard of the game. The last two Presidents of the Berbice Cricket Board should be very proud of their contributions because together they have so much to be proud of. Every cricketer in Berbice would know that during the period 2007 to 2015, Berbice Cricket was at its best and was spearheaded by individuals like Keith Foster, Anil Beharry, Carl Moore, Hubern Evans, Hilbert Foster, Malcolm Peters, Romesh Munna, Shabeer Baksh, Albert Smith and Robby Saywack among others.
To my knowledge, no one has ever used the Board in the past or now to make themselves popular or to enrich themselves and it is a shock that Somwaru would make such allegations against hard working administrators. The development that took place in Berbice during that period is unmatched across Guyana and as Berbicians we should be very proud of all our achievements.
In closing, I would like Mr. Somwaru to answer these questions for all Berbicians:
a) Why you did not answer any of the facts stated by Mr. George in his letter, instead you chose to attack me personally.
b) Isn’t it true that your letter to the Editor was sent from an email account of a female employee of the Guyana Cricket Board?
c) Did you write the letter yourself or was it penned by the author of destruction of Guyana’s cricket.
d) Isn’t it true that a senior official from Georgetown asked on numerous occasions that Angela Haniff be removed as Secretary of the Berbice Cricket Board before funding will be restored to the Berbice Cricket Board.
e) Why did you sign as the Secretary of the Chesney Cricket Club when you are not even a Member of that Club on the Request for Special Meeting by Clubs to Ms. Angela Haniff, Secretary, Berbice Cricket Club.
f) You are not the Head Teacher of the Berbice Islamic School. Why did you sign as the Head Master? Did you forget to inform the author of the letter that you have resigned that position many years ago?
g) Why are the two persons who filed an Injunction against the Anil Beharry’s Berbice Cricket Board Administration, which you were a part of in March 2015, are assisting you with the drafting of letters and also assisting you to serve letters on behalf of the Berbice Cricket Board to person you felt may be against your idea of development of cricket in Berbice. You have become buddies.
h) You stated that you are in the business of producing cricketers not getting popular. Can you please provide an example of a player you have played a major role in developing his career. What have been your contributions to the development of Cricket in “Chesney”, the Club you claim to represent?
i) You signed as President of the Guyana Cricket Umpires Association. How has the Association benefitted from your leadership and why no Berbice Umpires have been promoted in the ranks despite umpire Imran Moakan is among the best in Guyana.
My hands are clean; I have served Berbice Cricket to the best of my ability and can never be accused of corruption. I refused to be a puppet for anyone. My policy in serving any organisation is “Not what I can gain from an Organisation but what I can put into it”.
Yours in Sports,
Angela Haniff

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