The chairman of the Barbados National Anti-Doping Commission (NADC) expressed his frustration yesterday with the length of time it was taking Government to pass legislation against doping in sport.
During a presentation on anti-doping to members of sporting federations and the media at the Barbados Olympic Centre yesterday, Dr Adrian Lorde said a Barbados Bill Against Doping in Sport had been languishing since 2006.
Back then, they met with the chief parliamentary counsel and a draft was formulated, but “since then much hasn’t happened”.
“We met with successive Ministers of Sports who requested that we update the bill because a lot of changes would have occurred in anti-doping since then and that has been the status of the bill,” Lorde said. “I had hoped that one of the Ministers of Sports would have championed the bill as recently happened with Anil Roberts in Trinidad and Tobago.”
The bill in the twin-island nation was debated this month and unanimously passed, while Jamaica, Bermuda and The Bahamas have also put legislation in place.
“Barbados and the other Caribbean countries are lagging behind, and for Barbados, who would have been one of the leading lights in anti-doping in the region, it would have been embarrassing Continued on Page 8B.
for us not to have our bill in place,” Lorde told SUNPORT.
He said they also considered getting assistance with the drafting through the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), but that was not accepted by the legal drafters here.
He also said that it had been more than two years since they submitted approximately 20 names to the Ministry for people to serve on the NADC Committees, including the results management committee which would review doping violations.
When Lorde queried the length of time, the former board member of the World Anti-Doping Agency was told they needed to be sent to Cabinet, and that was followed by a request for curricula vitae. They did not send CVs for everyone, but only five members are needed for that all-important committee.
“When they were becoming cabinet Ministers, they didn’t have any CVs,” he told the audience.
“The various boards of the National Sports Council, the National Conservation Commission didn’t have any CVs. Why do you want CVs for the National Anti-Doping Commission when everybody knows who the various people are?” he asked.
“We have names of lawyers, doctors, sports persons who are known. Barbados is a small place.
“And it is frustrating. We have one case now where an athlete has a positive test and we have not been able to try that person because we don’t have the committees in place.”
That test dates back to 2011 and Lorde said their only recourse would be to go to the Regional Anti-Doping Organization.
“We feel, like Jamaica, we have a National Anti-Doping Organization. We should not have to refer to other persons in Dominica, Grenada, Guyana and St Lucia to get a decision made. There are people here on the ground and you can get something happen quickly. If we get the laws in place, we could solve the problem.”
SUNSPORT was unable to reach Minister of Sport Stephen Lashley yesterday for a response.
