… President admits to conflicts

LOCAL cyclists, disgruntled with the way the Guyana Cycling Federation (GCF) has been operating over the past 16 months since the new executive assumed office, have finally said `enough is enough’ and to this end, 40 licensed riders have affixed their signatures to a petition seeking the resignation of the Federation’s principal officers.One day after another section of the media broke the news of the petition, GCF president Horace Burrowes was contacted and admitted that the Federation had been plagued with internal conflicts at the executive level and that was responsible for the downward spiral of the sport. However, he stated that he was committed to addressing the concerns of the cyclists.
The cyclists, who have signed the petition and who have all been doing Guyana proud at the regional and international levels, want to see the backs of the president (Horrace Burrowes), secretary (Maria Leung), vice-president (Jerome Allicock) and treasurer (Rosanna Sukhoo).
According to the cyclists, among the reasons for their drastic call is the fact that the officials have shown scant respect for the oath they took to serve and take the sport to another level.
Among the stated infractions are: Failure to hold meetings and/or attend which shows disrespect for their commitment to cyclists; the failure of the president and most of his executives to attend the 2016 national championship; the failure of the president to publish the results of the WADA drug test of November 2015; the incompetence of the president in publishing inaccurate information on social media, resulting in the GCF being embarrassed; the president being non-resident, communication is difficult.
However, Burrowes who is resident in the USA, in responding to the cyclists’ petition told another section of the media that he would be in Guyana in another few weeks and he would be meeting with his executives and clubs to address their concerns.
He said over the past months he had been meeting with other cycling federations with a view of getting technical and other assistance for local cyclists and he was currently in talks with the Mexico cycling body, seeking assistance for the development of Guyanese track cyclists.
He said he also plans to pursue more alliances with the Pan American Cycling Confederation (COPACI) when he attends the COPACI Annual General Meeting fixed for Cuba next January.