Dear Editor,
An attack has been launched on Guyana on October 2 Gary Griffith, the former Police Commissioner of Trinidad & Tobago, who is now the purported leader of something called the National Transformation Alliance. He wrote to the CPL organizers and demanded that the finals of that cricket competition be returned to the twin island republic.
Griffith’s letter contains numerous inaccuracies, innuendos and outright nonsensical claims, and given that this letter is being surreptitiously circulated by members of his organization, it is incumbent that a comprehensive reply be delivered.
Griffith first implies that the power outage that occurred was not coincidental — a claim that is obviously balderdash, and even one seeking political relevance should know better than to stake credibility on such nonsense. It is Griffith’s second assertion, about security measures, that warrants the most careful examination. A fight on a grass mound among spectators is indeed unfortunate, but thankfully rare. I fail to see how this constitutes grounds for moving the finals from Guyana.
I attended the finals of CPL in Trinidad, and my vehicle was broken into despite it being parked in an official car park. My car was trashed inside, and the deck ripped out. I didn’t see this as a cause to call for T&T to be removed as a possible CPL finals venue.
Crime skyrocketed during Gary Griffith’s brief tenure as COP, and he was fired ignominiously from that position. His outlandish statements and behaviour brought the office of the commissioner into the realm of ‘pappyshow’ and comedy; enough to say Trinidad is the serious crime capital of the English-speaking Caribbean and then some.
Thirdly, Griffith speaks of logistical difficulties in Guyana, as opposed to mystical excellence in Trinidad. I am unsure of what exactly he references, as I can recall a team bus taking four hours to make its way from the hotel to the stadium, despite police escort.
Finally, even a clueless politician should know that the CPL finals are awarded via an open bidding process. it is not a ‘right’ of any territory, but is awarded based on competition and competency. Guyana and Guyanese have done themselves proud with their enthusiastic support of both the home team and other franchises from the inception of CPL, and easily win the award for biggest fans of cricket in the region.
Gary Griffith’s letter is much like Gary Griffith the COP: bluff and bluster disguised as patriotism and intellect. It fools no one, and certainly does his ‘transformation’ party no favours.
Sincerely,
Robin Singh
