THE Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) held their AGM last Sunday at the National Gymnasium where David Carto was elected as the new  president. But that was not the major issue at hand during the long awaited Annual General Meeting; it was the missing treasurer’s report that irked the gathering of clubs at the indoor facility in Georgetown.
Roger Duff was the treasurer under the Trevor Rose regime when allegedly millions of dollars passed through for various funding, especially for their Burnham Basketball Court rehabilitation project.
Sports in Guyana is played at an amateur level, but sometimes hefty monetary compensation/awards are given to clubs/players who would have excelled at whatever the tournament might be.
Someone outside of the game/sport might be asking “why is the treasurer’s report so important?”
Well, here’s why…
Firstly, the Rose-led GABA had accumulated according to my findings, well over $15 million over the period in which they were in office, most of it, $11M to be exact, was given by an “unknown source” for the Burnham Court project funding.
This ‘grant’ was kept as a mere secret from the public more so the media, and was later made known to the clubs. How was the money spent? Some clubs asked the embroiled Rose to say what happened to the monies collected by his GABA.
Rose, last week, prior to the elections unveiled the backboard and rims bought by GABA last year, to be erected as part of phase three of the project.
But was it sensible spending by the-then GABA or was it money wasted? – a question asked, based on a breakdown obtained from the Haynes’ brothers, Paul and Patrick, who are well-known for their charitable work through their New Jersey, USA-based ‘Haynes Foundation’.
It was said that on August 11, 2010 they (Trevor Rose/GABA) wired the funds (US$3666.08 – Bank Wire Fee US$25.00=US$3,641.08) “for us to procure two FIBA backboards, two rims, two nets and two backboard padding kits.
“We were able to get them at wholesale prices through one of our contacts. We indicated to Rose that the backboards had to be made to FIBA standards and would take four weeks to be delivered.”
According to the ‘brothers’, “Rose insisted that GABA wants the boards to be shipped via AIR (2-3 days) rather than SEA (3-4 weeks), because National Sports Commission (NSC) had leased a backboard to GABA and it had to be returned to the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on September 15, 2010.”
The backboards were shipped to GABA c/o Trevor Rose on September 11, 2010 via Caribbean Cargo and were ready for pickup on September 14, 2010.
“The cost of shipping by SEA would have been US$244.00 (GY$48,800), with a four-week delivery date, while shipment by AIR cost US$816.00 (GY$163,200) with a three-day delivery date.
We advised against shipping by air to reduce the cost where the excess funds would be available for Customs clearance. Rose/Duff indicated that they (GABA) had systems in place to clear the equipment ‘hassle-free’. Shipping by sea would have saved GABA US$572.00 (GY$114,400) which could have been used to clear the equipment from Customs”.
The truth is accountability is at stake here and the money from the acclaimed ‘unknown source” ($11M) was given last year, before the purchase of the backboards and it was also listed in the email by the Haynes duo, that they had written the “NSC and Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport (MC&YS) requesting an extension on the September 15 return date (of loan backboards), pending our shipment”.
Accountability is everything in sports especially in a time where money is everything for growth and development.
The clubs never argued about not playing basketball for the past two to three months, even though they wanted to play. It is knowing how the GABA’s money was spent soured the air at last Sunday’s meeting.
Facts and findings would have shown GABA Treasurer’s Report reflecting monies gained from the Burnham Court project, the lucrative Georgetown inter-ward tournament held in 2009, and the millions of dollars given by Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) under their Pepsi Brand.
Rose said that he has spent millions of his personal finances that even went towards the Burnham Court project and was used in the initial stages of the Association that was in the red.
“I spent like $4M of my funds behind basketball so I really want this report to be completed to back up what I’m saying,” Rose said when contacted yesterday.
“This is making me look bad as a former President, and honestly, there’s no excuse accepted by anyone on why the report isn’t finished as yet, but the treasurer said on Thursday it will be presented and I would be publishing the report.”
Ever so often it is asked, How come basketball can’t attract big-time sponsors for tournament? or the most common, When would the game return to the days when we had players like Lugard Mohan and Ulric Tappin?
Should I answer, or should I let its historical past and heavy fall answer. For basketball to so return to the “glory days” a proactive approach should be taken by the sports local governing body – Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF).
The Federation to me, has only been saying “we will do” and “has not done anything” to hold these sub-associations accountable for their continuing disgraceful acts on the once glorified game.
Take a look at what’s happening in Linden with their association which, ironically, is led by the Technical Adviser to the Federation Abdullah Hamid.