MSC Musing 6 disposal of MSV assets and lands requires agreement – was there chicanery and subterfuge?

I have been bombarded with questions about whether it is worth writing about the status of the remodelled Mackenzie Sports Club, which is expected to welcome back the eagerly anticipated Kashif and Shanghai year-end football tournament on December 13, when the venue will likely reopen.

I have reflected on those concerns and on why I am making these matters public now. My answer is simple: the history of the Mackenzie Sports Club deserves to be told and protected. If I remain silent, who will speak?

Having grown up in Mackenzie, Linden, and knowing firsthand what this institution means to its people, I feel a duty to speak. In my view, what has unfolded amounts to a virtual takeover by the Government, encouraged by some individuals from the mining town. I believe that deep-seated differences with some or all of those serving on the Committee of Management, and with members of the Club, have contributed to the situation.

Be that as it may, the Mackenzie Sports Club is unlike any other sports institution in this dear land of Guyana.

It was born out of the need to provide recreational facilities for non-management bauxite workers who came from across the country and the smaller Caribbean islands to make their homes in Mackenzie, Christianburg and Wismar, some 65 miles up the Demerara River. This was long before British Guiana became independent Guyana.

The Canadians who owned and operated the bauxite industry wanted to ensure that workers and their families were adequately provided for in what was essentially a company town.

The development involved dredging the Demerara River, clearing and levelling the site, and depositing sand on the area where the MSC ground now stands.

By December 8, 1956, the main clubhouse and adjoining lounge were in place. The expansive grounds accommodated two football fields, a cricket pitch, a 400-metre athletics track, rugby and hockey. There were also a lawn tennis court, facilities for volleyball and basketball, and a swimming pool. Boxing, wrestling and bodybuilding events were staged there as well.

The Mackenzie Sports Club was therefore a truly multipurpose institution, with cultural entertainment forming another important part of its activities.

From the early 1960s, it was a first-class venue, supported by the bauxite company, which never attempted to withdraw the control entrusted to the Committee of Management.

Through the industry’s support, Basil Butcher came to coach at the Club while still a member of the West Indies cricket team. Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Clive Lloyd and Lance Gibbs also conducted coaching stints while they were West Indies players.

During the 1970s, the MSC hosted international athletics meetings, with athletes and cyclists travelling from across the Caribbean, including Cuba, to compete against Guyana’s best.

Regional youth cricket brought teams from Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, the Leeward Islands and the Windward Islands to compete alongside Guyana. A Pakistan International Airlines team also played there, and the venue hosted Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket coaching activities.

Cuban boxing legend Félix Savón, regarded as one of the greatest amateur boxers of all time, also fought at the MSC during the 1980s. Savón, who went on to become a three-time Olympic gold medallist and six-time world champion, was part of a Cuban team that defeated a Linden representative team at the ground.

The cultural memories are equally significant. Who could forget the local production of Jesus Christ Superstar starring Linden’s Maurice Frank being a major attraction.

Or our very own Cannon Balls band, featuring Winston ‘Zar’ Caesar, Tiny Duggan, and the late Charlie Couchman and Sammy David? Their appearances brought tremendous enjoyment to MSC audiences.

The venue also welcomed performers such as Yellowman, Ken Lazarus, Beenie Man, Dennis Brown, Calypso King the Mighty Sparrow and Byron Lee and the Dragonaires.

Then there was the Guymine–Guystac sporting rivalry, international football at national and club levels, and the visit of Hull City in 1973 among others.

Was the Government fully informed of this institution’s history and the arrangements governing its management? I have my doubts.

Before the start of the new millennium, this Government sought to have the assets and lands of the Mackenzie Sports Club placed under the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport. That proposal was rejected after the bauxite industry’s management advised that such a transfer could not proceed without the agreement of the Committee of Management.

The position I am placing before the public is that any disposal of the Club’s assets and lands requires the agreement of both the Committee of Management and the members.

In 2020, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Charles Ramson Jr. met with the Committee of Management to seek permission for the Government to upgrade the facility. Our understanding was that the MSC would remain a multipurpose club under the Committee of Management.

In 2022, however, Minister Ramson returned and verbally informed us that the facility was now owned by the Government of Guyana.

How did permission to upgrade the facility become a declaration of government ownership? When, and through what process, did the Committee of Management and the members agree to the disposal or transfer of the Club’s assets and lands?

These are questions that deserve clear answers.

A good friend recently asked me whether the Minister and the Government had rewarded the Committee of Management’s cooperation with “chicanery and subterfuge”.

It is a troubling question. An explanation of the basis for the Government’s claim of ownership would help the members and the wider public judge the matter for themselves.

More vibes loading….

Yours respectfully,

Joseph Chapman

General Secretary

Mackenzie Sports Club