Who gave permission to demolish the Mackenzie Sports Club and rename it?

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

When I reflect on a government official approaching the Mackenzie Sports Club’s Management Committee in 2020, seeking our agreement for the Government to upgrade the MSC, and compare that proposal with where we are today, the above quotation comes to mind.

The Kashif and Shanghai Organisation is preparing to bring one of Guyana’s greatest sporting spectacles back to Linden. No one familiar with the promotional duo’s record can question their ability to produce another outstanding football tournament.

The glitz and glamour that once brought excitement to the Christmas season, particularly for returning Guyanese from the diaspora, have long been fond memories. This is a return that Lindeners have eagerly awaited.

As the Co-Director Kashif Muhammed has declared, it is: “Destination Football. Linden Means Business.”
Come December, that anticipation is expected to bring people pouring into the mining town. Businesses, small, medium and large, will welcome the opportunities that the tournament brings.

Yet, as someone recently reminded me, facts are stubborn things.

Amid the excitement, we cannot ignore the history of the Mackenzie Sports Club or the questions surrounding its demolition and proposed renaming.

Why should the MSC’s identity be erased?

The MSC was established to promote sport and social recreation for its members; maintain a clubhouse with facilities for indoor games; and provide and maintain facilities for cricket, football, lawn tennis and other outdoor activities approved by its Committee of Management.

There is no denying that the facilities had deteriorated over the decades and that improvements were necessary. However, the need for rehabilitation does not answer the questions about ownership, consultation and authority.

In response to my second letter on this controversy, I was asked to provide documentary proof supporting my account of the club’s historical ownership and any official handover.

An individual has also claimed that evidence of a handover to NICIL was presented to the Management Committee. I invite him to make that evidence available so that readers can examine it.

The discussion must rest on documents and verifiable facts.

That individual also referred to deteriorated roofing sheets and rehabilitation work undertaken by the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation years ago. My understanding is that the MSC’s roofing sheets were aluminium. If he is referring to those sheets, he should clarify the nature of the deterioration he describes.
There is also a question of accountability for the club’s property. When the main pavilion and lounge were demolished, what became of the roofing sheets, billiard tables, balls and cues, cards, dominoes, two water pumps, a motorized grass cutter donated by Farm Supply Ltd, lawn mower donated by Dr. Haynes and a brush cutter, cricket gear, historic photographs, ledgers, computer, office supplies, table tennis equipment and other materials?

Where were these items taken to, who authorised their removal, and is there an inventory accounting for them?

I also wish to address the following statement:
“We need a response for turning down that offer after K & S got sponsorship of a job for One Million Dollars. The plan is available right now as I am responding.”

For context, an official explanation for the removal of the Kashif and Shanghai football finals from the MSC stated, in part:

“Our decision to take this step has been informed by two critical considerations. First, as you are aware, the McKenzie Sports Club Ground has fallen into a state of considerable disrepair and, frankly, is inappropriate for the hoisting of an event of the magnitude of the Kashif and Shanghai Finals. In this regard, I should add that the spirited attempts of the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation in collaboration with LEAP to put a rehabilitation initiative in place fell through despite our best efforts.”

In light of that explanation, I invite the individual raising this matter to disclose the proposed terms of the rehabilitation initiative through LEAP and explain why the discussions between the MSC and the Kashif and Shanghai Organisation broke down.

The public deserves the full circumstances surrounding that proposal.

We must also remember the MSC’s roots. It has operated as a members’ club, with a Committee of Management whose role was respected through successive periods of the bauxite industry, including DEMBA, Guybau, Guymine and Linmine.

Who, then, advised the Government that it had the authority to demolish the club’s buildings, remove its established facilities and change its identity?

The grounds accommodated two full-sized football fields as well as cricket. What consultation informed the decision to reconfigure that space, and how will the redevelopment serve the full range of sporting and recreational activities associated with the MSC?

Who authorised the removal of the swimming pool and clubhouse—facilities that served generations of Lindeners?

Who approved the renaming of the venue, and under what authority?

These questions remain unanswered. To my knowledge, the MSC’s Committee of Management, its members and the relevant local authorities were not meaningfully consulted before these decisions were taken.

Development should involve the people whose history, institutions and community life are affected. Welcoming improved sporting facilities does not remove the need for transparency, consultation and respect for the MSC’s identity.

The return of Kashif and Shanghai football is welcome. The business opportunities it promises are welcome. But neither answers the central question: who gave permission to demolish the Mackenzie Sports Club and rename it?

Loading……..Yours respectfully,Joseph Chapman
General Secretary
Mackenzie Sports Club