Dear Editor
In our daily lives, we sometimes choose to remain silent on certain matters, hoping that good sense will eventually prevail.
On December 8, 2026, the Mackenzie Sports Club (MSC) is expected to celebrate its platinum anniversary, just days before the highly anticipated return of the Kashif and Shanghai football spectacle on December 13 at the iconic venue.
Having recently penned my first, albeit belated, letter concerning developments at the Mackenzie Sports Club, as its 70th anniversary at 464 Greenheart Street approaches, I have since been challenged by persons questioning my account of what transpired between the Government of Guyana, through Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jr. and his team, and the MSC Committee of Management, headed by President Avery Trim, in August 2020. I was, and remain, the club’s General Secretary.
One trusted friend even asked why certain matters were only now being revealed. Another brother challenged the accuracy of what I had written.
Well, these reactions have prompted me to say a few more things, knowing fully well that criticism will follow. Nevertheless, I intend to bring to light other matters concerning the MSC that remain unknown to many.
First things first.
The lyrics of Bob Marley and The Wailers’ 1977 song, So Much Things to Say, from the album Exodus, speak to resilience in the face of criticism, betrayal and systemic injustice. The song recalls historical struggles and reminds listeners never to forget who they are or where they stand.
I encourage readers to listen to the song in its entirety.
Many people may not know that the Mackenzie Sports Club, according to historical records, traces its origins to at least the 1940s, when it was established to serve the people of Mackenzie.
The Government’s apparent attempt to erase the MSC from its rightful place in history must not be allowed to succeed.
The club was a gift to the people of Mackenzie. It was first housed at the Cockatara Cinema in the 1940s, near the Mackenzie Market, before relocating to the site now occupied by the Mackenzie Police Station. It subsequently found its permanent home on Greenheart Street.
Before 1950, the present MSC ground was uncultivated bushland. The Canadians who initially operated the bauxite industry through the Demerara Bauxite Company Limited (DEMBA) engaged and consulted their working-class, non-management employees about establishing a recreational facility for them and their families.
Beginning in 1956, successive owners of the Linden bauxite operations undertook improvements to the facility until the industry was privatised around 2003. Yet none of those companies sought to take control of what remained a members’ club.
Let me remind the public of the biblical declaration in Ecclesiastes 3:1: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”
Within that passage is the reminder that there is a time to remain silent and a time to speak.
One individual, in challenging the accuracy of my previous letter, chose to present what I consider a misleading account of the events surrounding the Government’s involvement with the MSC.
He claimed that Minister Ramson had sought the executive committee’s support and collaboration to upgrade the facility but was denied after three consecutive meetings. According to his account, the Minister subsequently requested proof of ownership from the MSC executive, which he claimed was never produced. He further suggested that the Minister had established ownership through the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), which had transferred the venue to the Government of Guyana, thereby allowing the redevelopment to proceed.
How misleading can such an account be?
I challenge him to state precisely when those three consecutive meetings were held and identify the persons who attended.
The fact is that our first engagement with Minister Ramson took place on August 20, 2020. At that meeting, he outlined the Government’s intention to seek the permission and cooperation of the MSC executive and its members to upgrade the facility as one of three proposed multipurpose sporting facilities across Guyana, an initiative attributed to President Irfaan Ali.
The MSC Committee of Management subsequently informed Minister Ramson in writing that it agreed, in principle, to the Government’s proposed assistance, subject to two important conditions:
1. Upon completion of the upgrades, the facility must remain a members’ club.
2. All architectural drawings and proposed development plans must be presented to and discussed with the MSC Committee of Management before any work commenced.
These were reasonable conditions intended to protect the club’s identity, its members and its longstanding relationship with the Linden community.
We subsequently wrote to Minister Ramson requesting a meeting to clarify the way forward. Unfortunately, that meeting never materialised.
Sometime later, we met with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a delegation from the Chinese Embassy. During that engagement, we were informed that an approach was being made to secure financial assistance from the Chinese Embassy for the proposed MSC project.
National Sports Commission Chairman Kashif Muhammed also visited and presented a pictorial drawing depicting the proposed development of the ground. However, upon examination, several shortcomings were identified. He withdrew the presentation and promised to return with revised plans, but that follow-up never occurred.
A team headed by an architect also visited the facility to identify and mark critical points on the field.
Yet, from 2020 to the present, not a single piece of correspondence outlining the Government’s plans for the facility has been sent to or formally discussed with the MSC Committee of Management.
It is important to emphasise that the MSC was already a multipurpose sporting facility long before the Government proposed transforming it into one.
The club catered for football, cricket, athletics, basketball, rugby, table tennis, lawn tennis, hockey, boxing, dominoes, billiards, volleyball and other recreational activities. This diversity made it one of the most distinctive sporting institutions in Guyana.
Today, however, it appears that the remodelled facility will primarily accommodate football and cricket.
This is the same ground that previously hosted international track and field events, football, cricket, athletics and cycling, as well as major cultural performances featuring artistes such as the late Mighty Sparrow, Third World and others.
In the 1970s, a visiting Chinese basketball team also played against a Linden team on the MSC hard court.
The removal of the swimming pool has been particularly disappointing to many residents. That pool helped produce several national swimmers, including Linden’s Onan Thom, Guyana’s first Olympic swimmer.
Its disappearance has left many in the community questioning whether adequate consideration was given to the club’s rich sporting history and the opportunities it provided for young athletes.
Serious consideration must now be given to restoring the MSC clubhouse, which accommodated indoor recreational activities such as table tennis, billiards, darts, whist and dominoes.
Similarly, the MSC Lounge, which served as a venue for weddings, birthday celebrations and other social functions, should be restored.
These facilities were integral to the club’s identity and its role as a social and recreational institution serving generations of Lindeners.
In retrospect, I am left to wonder whether the intentions behind the redevelopment were different from those initially presented to the MSC Committee of Management in August 2020.
Despite the committee informing the Government in writing that the MSC was already a multipurpose facility, no comprehensive development plan was ever formally presented to us for consideration or discussion.
Let me repeat: the MSC Committee of Management agreed, in principle, to the proposed upgrades. We did not oppose development.
However, it now appears that the trust we placed in the process may have been misplaced.
Some may ask why we agreed to accommodate the Government’s proposal in the first place.
The answer is simple.
Had we rejected the proposal outright, we would undoubtedly have been accused of opposing development and standing in the way of progress.
Our intention was never to prevent improvements to the facility. Rather, we sought to ensure that any development respected the MSC’s history, preserved its status as a members’ club and protected the interests of those it was established to serve.
Letters were also sent to officials to whom the Sports Minister reports. Regrettably, neither those officials nor the Minister saw it fit to acknowledge our correspondence.
But it is what it is.
I must again emphasise that, from 2020 to 2026, the Government of Guyana has never formally written to the MSC Committee of Management outlining what was taking place at the facility.
How should such treatment be interpreted?
Is it disrespect towards the MSC Committee of Management, its members and the wider Linden community? Or is it simply another case of what we in Guyana commonly refer to as eye-pass?
The people of Linden deserve answers.
The Mackenzie Sports Club is more than a sporting ground. It is an institution deeply rooted in the history, culture and identity of this community. Its contribution to sport, recreation and social development cannot simply be erased or overlooked in the name of modernisation.
Development should not come at the expense of history, identity, accountability and respect.
As the MSC approaches its platinum anniversary, there is much that deserves to be remembered, discussed and, where necessary, challenged.
And, as the saying goes, “There’s more in the mortar than the pestle.”
More to come.
Yours respectfully,
Joseph Chapman
General Secretary
Mackenzie Sports Club
