Letter to the Sports Editor…THE ATTORNEY GENERAL IS LYING

Feb 01, 2015 Sports

Dear Editor,
I hesitantly decided to pen this letter so please let me make it clear that I am speaking on my personal behalf and not for the WICB. They are quite capable to deal with Mr. Nandalall and his usually irresponsible utterances.
On Thursday 29th Jan 2015 an article was carried in the Guyana Chronicle Captioned “The will of parliament cannot be frustrated and defeated by the whims and fancies of the WICB – AG”.
The Article also quotes the AG as saying “It is important to note that the WICB was consulted while the bill was in the National Assembly, at the Select Committee, and they agreed in writing that they will play a role in the appointment of the Ombudsman. In those circumstances they were included in the bill, in the manner outlined in section 17”. This is a total fabrication as the WICB never agreed to play any part or role in the appointment of the Ombudsman. In fact, on the two occasions that the WICB communicated with the Minister of Sports and the Clerk of the National Assembly, they completely and categorically refused to accept the bill in its current form. See attached: (documents received, not published)
(a) letter to Mr. Frank Anthony from Mr. Julian Hunte dated 4th December 2012, and
(b) Letter to Mr. Sherlock Isaacs, Clerk of the National Assembly, from Mr. Dave Cameron dated 24th October 2013.
These were the only correspondences sent by the WICB to the authorities in Guyana referring to the Cricket Administration Bill before its passage in the National Assembly. I challenge the Attorney General to produce the correspondence he is referring to and to make same public.
It is clear the Attorney General and his Sports Minister have belatedly realised that another of their plethora of mistakes in the drafting of the CAB has been exposed, and intends to lie to the public. The Minutes of the 10th Meeting of the Select Committee of the Parliament dated 11th March 2013 on Page 5 states the following:
“Members suggested that before the Regulations were drafted to include the WICB to act as the facilitator to initiate the first elections of the Guyana Cricket Board, the committee should first inform the Board (WICB) to ensure that they are in agreement to participate in the process. The Chairman (Dr. Frank Anthony) then suggested that within the next Two weeks the committee would communicate with the WICB on its decision of making the WICB the facilitator in the holding of the first election of the GCB. Thereafter the committee requested that the Chief Parliamentary Counsel re-draft Clause 6 to include that the WICB and/or such other authority in the absence of the WICB act as the facilitator in conducting the first election process of the GCB”.
There is no record existing to show that the Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, wrote the WICB to convey the decision of the Parliamentary Select Committee, instead the Minister inserted himself in the process and added WICB as a party to be “consulted”, without their consent. Members of the Select Committee should revisit these minutes and ask questions.
We have had two attempts at resolution at this matter, the Caricom brokered agreement in 2012 and the WICB/GCB/GOG Memorandum of Agreement in 2014, both of which have been thrown aside by these two ministers and we do not expect any resolution once they are involved in the process. In fact, the Attorney General was the Counsel for some of the principals in the disputes and cannot be considered neutral in any of these discussions and has now resorted to prosecuting this matter through his office. Further in no sane, democratic society would such an individual, in the current circumstances, be allowed to practise law much less hold the highest legal office in the land.
It is not unusual for the Attorney General to argue his court matters in the Guyana Chronicle so I am not surprised that he has started to fabricate and imagine that such a letter exists. As usual you never hear when this individual loses his cases.
Anyone reading the Government CAB would realise the GCB has to pay the Ombudsman among other expenditure stipulated in the bill. The sole source of income for the GCB is WICB Development fund and revenue from WICB Matches fixed for Guyana yet the GCB is required by this flawed Act to account for these funds to the Guyana Parliament instead of the WICB. It would be interesting to see if WICB continues the funding if it is not used for specific purposes. Since the Attorney General and his government did not allocate any state funding to the GCB even though they have to send their accounts to parliament, it is even more interesting to see what would be the situation when WICB stops the funding. The WICB “whims and fancies” may then be considered.
I do expect a few more threats after penning this letter.
Yours Sincerely,
Anand Sanasie
Hon. Secretary
Guyana Cricket Board