THE Guyana Beverages Company (GBC) through its Busta brand of soft drinks has continued its sponsorship with the Essequibo Cricket Board (ECB) cricket festival which is in its seventh year, with a simple presentation ceremony at their Diamond conference room yesterday.
Managing director of GBC, Robert Selman, challenged the executives of the ECB, some of whom were present, to forget the stumbling blocks and put cricket first at all times.
“First of all let me say, we at the GBC sponsor cricket we don’t administrate cricket and whatever happens within any organisation that approaches us for sponsorship, I don’t want anybody from within that organisation writing me about it.”
Selman was at the time referring to a letter sent to him by an embattled executive member of the ECB.
He added: “Whatsoever I spend on cricket, I have faith in the organisation to execute. All I need to know is that the money allocated is being used for the necessary project it was applied for. I am not interested in any in-house problems as it does not concern me.”
However, Selman added that once he is privileges to witness any misdemeanours taking place within an organisation who approaches the GBC for sponsorship and receives same, he would call in the necessary officials and have a talk with them, but he would not do so on hearsay reports.
While stating that the GBC had a bad year due to a fire at its parent company S.M Jaleel in Trinidad and Tobago, the 66 year-old Selman, who has been under the employ of the parent company for 46 years, said they were looking to get back on stream next year.
“I have said it time and time again to the many different organisations that come to us for sponsorship on a daily basis. As long as I am alive and still the head of GBC, I will be offering my support to the best of my ability.
“With this in mind, I must say how satisfied I am with the ECB and the way they have been running their cricket. I believe they stand for discipline and that’s one of the beliefs meant for cricket.
“They may not be on top of their game, but there is definite improvement in their game and we at the GBC are proud to know that the money we are giving to them is being spent towards the development of their cricket, which is evident today.”
Selman, who is an ardent sports fan, took the opportunity to wish the Guyana T20 team all the best in their upcoming endeavours at the 2010 Airtel Champions League, saying they deserve to be there.
“I would like to see Guyana go on to win the T20 in South Africa as that would be a proud achievement not only for Guyana, but West Indies cricket also. They deserve to be there, by virtue of playing the better cricket throughout the tournament and with that in mind, I wish them best of luck in South Africa.”
President of the ECB and treasurer of the Guyana Cricket Board, Asif Ahmad, thanked the sponsors for their generosity and promised to make the tournament which will be played on a round robin basis among the eight teams, a very competitive one.
Ahmad also promised to take the final to Pomeroon where they get lots of support, once the home team reaches the final.
According to the ECB’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) Carl Brandon, Essequibo’s cricketers have been exposed to some form of cricket and this has been evident based on the performance of the Under-15, U-17 and U-19 cricketers.
This year’s tournament will be played under the ‘Busta, a Healthy Lifestyle’ banner and will commence on September 10 with defending champions South Essequibo taking on Pomeroon at Suddie in a Zone A clash, while in Zone B, East Bank will host Bartica.