Guyana Cricket Board Official Locked-Up for Drunken Disorderly Behaviour

Mr. Bissoondyal Singh, leader of one faction of the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) confirmed today that the vice-president of his faction Mr. Prettipaul Jaigobin was locked up since Friday night for driving drunk and behaving in a manner such as to be a public nuisance. 

Confirmed reports reaching the Cricket Crusader indicate that on Friday night Jaigobin was driving on the wrong side of the road in Railway Embankment Road in the vicinity of Ogle, East Coast Demerara when President of Guyana Bharrat Jagdeo was traveling in the other direction. Reports are that Jaigobin refused to heed the sirens of President Jagdeo's outriders and was driving on the wrong side of the road approaching the President's vehicles. When he was forcibly stopped by the President's Security Personnel he was found to behind the driving wheel drunk and had soiled himself. When the President's security personnel removed him from his vehicle Jaigobin was heard saying loudly that he is the President's "buddy friend" and that Minister of Finance Ashni Singh depended upon his expertise to make decisions; "Ashni Singh cannot make a decision without consulting me" he reportedly said. Jaigobin was slurring his speech and was unable to stand properly but the President's Security Personnel were reluctant to touch him because he had shat himself and was urinating himself as he was standing next to his vehicle. He was so intoxicated he had lost control of his bodily functions.

One onlooker to the entire incident said "da man nasty, and he so drunk he coulda kill somebody pun this road here tonight". The onlooker who has a small stall by the roadside said this is not the first time he saw Jaigobin is a drunken state driving along the Railway Embankment Road; "he does do this regula; this is he style ... he does stop by the shop right deh [points to a local rum shop] and drink steady". The onlooker said on many occasions Jaigobin would come to the nearby shop already drunk but would still go inside and drink even more.

Jaigobin in addition to being the Vice-President of the Bissoondyal faction of the Demerara Cricket Board is also the Assistant Treasurer of the Guyana Cricket Board and a senior functionary at the Ministry of Finance. He was assaulted several months ago with acid in the East Coast Demerara region but was too drunk at that time identify his assailants. It has long been rumoured that his acid-assault was as a result of his offensive drunken behaviour towards females in the liquor establishments which he would usually patronise along the East Coast.

Bissoondyal: "I have money so I control dem black people on my Board"

Mr. Bissoondyal Singh, leader of the Bissoondyal led faction of the Demerara Cricket Board, speaking in the company of friends and his lawyer at a Sleep In hotel in Georgetown on Friday night boasted that no member of his faction of the Demerara Cricket Board was free to vote at the upcoming Guyana Cricket Board elections in an independent manner. "I tell them who to vote for" he said. He further went on to say that he had made promises to the politicians to deliver the Board to them to be used as a tool in the upcoming election campaign and as such he had to take instruction from the politicians and his Board members in turn had to follow his instructions. Bissoondyal boasted that the vice-president of his faction of the Demerara Cricket Board, former West Indies Test Player Roger Harper had no say in the decisions of the Board. Bissoondyal boasted to his friends that "black people greedy, is only lil money they want and they have to depend on indians for the money, we own them". He said Roger Harper was not working at the moment and was being supported by hand outs from him of which he said he had plenty. He further went on to comment that "pacer" Adonis who has been involved in Demerara Cricket for more than a decade was now squarely on his side because of the "couple thousand dollars" I give him every week. Adonis would do "anything I ask him to do" because of the "lil freck" I give him every week. That is how you control black people he declared.

Bissoondyal admitted that he was dependent on the support of Harper, Adonis and Chairman of National Selectors Claude Rafael to be elected but he said he was sure of the support because "Rafael goes to Berbice for me ... look he going on Sunday again (last Sunday) and he gotta go because he bruk and is me who he gotta beg for a small piece". In a comment about the appointment of Mark Harper as the National Cricket Team Coach, Bissoondyal defended his fight against Mark Harper at the Board level when a vote was being taken on the appointment saying "Mark ain't nobody; I gotta put somebody there who I could control and Mark don't even listen to Roger most of the time".

Bissoondyal boasted that he had the votes to win the Presidency of the Guyana Cricket Board because he had bought out four votes from the Berbice Cricket Board. "Bai, I telling you, I gat money so I will always control dem black people ... all you need to do is give them a two thousand now and then and they will follow you like a dog everywhere".

Bissoondyal was confident that his faction would be the faction that would go to the Guyana Cricket Board Elections because of the political clique he had behind him. "I don't care about any constitution or any Court or what anybody else say ... I taking over the Board and all I need is for the Ministers I have behind me to do what I say and I got it covered". He openly admitted that the interference of political elements was an integral part of him succeeding and he feared if the  High Court got involved to examine things that would interfere with is march to the Presidency of the Guyana Cricket Board.

Political clique takes control of Guyana Cricket

In a naked display of political interference and corruption Minister of Labour Mansoor Nadir is set to force the Registrar of Friendly Societies Mr. Kareem Abdul Jabbar to recognise the Bissoondyal faction of the Demerara Cricket Board at the meeting of the Guyana Cricket Board and the Registrar of Friendly Societies (the Registrar) fixed for today at 2 p.m. The Registrar had previously granted permission for the Guyana Cricket Board Annual General meeting to take place as all the accounts and documents of the Board were in order; but Minister Nadir acting on the instruction and influence of junior Minister of Housing Irfan Ali had instructed the Registrar to recall that permission and ask for further documents to purportedly scrutinise the management of the Board. No discrepancy was found, but it is clear that the clear intent of the political clique was to delay the Board elections so that they could bully and terrorise persons who could vote into supporting the Government's candidate. 

This has always been the suspicion in cricketing circles that a clique of politicians intended to take control of cricket in Guyana without regard to the democratic process, rules and laws governing Friendly Societies. Over the past two months it is apparent that Junior Minister Irfan Ali, Minister Mansoor Nadir and Minister of Trade Manniram Prashad were working assiduously to take control of cricket without regard to the vote process of the Guyana Cricket Board. Sources have confirmed that the trio which form the political clique have been threatening persons who hold public service jobs that they will suffer if they do not support Bissoondyal. Bissoondyal held elections which were called by himself alone without any official sanction and elected himself President of Demerara Cricket and managed to have the State media publicize his election in a manner designed to make it appear it was the only election. State media refused to carry any news item about the elections at which Raj Singh was elected which were the lawfully fixed election of Demerara Cricket Board.

It appears now that the political interference is no longer operating covertly but as Minister Nadir confirmed to a source he was just following instructions and the PPP wanted control of the Board and he had to assist them. He further went on to say that Irfan [junior Minister of Housing Irfan Ali] was determined to take control of the Board and he had the full backing of Jagdeo [President Bharrat Jagdeo].

This clear political interference would mean that the Raj Singh led faction which has been elected in a accordance with the decisions taken by the Executive Committee of the Demerara Cricket Board would find themselves shut out of the democratic process. Officials of the West Indies Cricket Board have indicated that such a level of political interference in the region is unprecedented and it puts the upcoming Pakistan tour to Guyana in doubt.