Roland Toppin is New WICB CEO
Fri, Oct 20, '06
EXCLUSIVE: The new chief executive officer of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) is Barbados businessman Dr Roland Toppin (pictured).
Toppin, who serves as general manager of Duraplast, Inc., a subsidiary of Banks Holdings Ltd., will assume the hot seat that was left vacant when Roger Brathwaite resigned in March. According to well-placed sources, Toppin narrowly edged out Trinidad real estate developer Tim Nafziger for the job.
Toppin is expected to be offered a two-year contract and will be given strict performance clauses.
The choice of Toppin was made by a WICB committee -- Ken Gordon, Sir Alister McIntyre and Tony Marshall -- and unanimously ratified by the full board on October 19.
However, there is some confusion over the timing of his appointment. Toppin, according to one source in Barbados, has not yet agreed to a WICB contract and is still employed at Duraplast.
In a speech following a WICB board meeting yesterday (October 19), board president Ken Gordon said a public announcement could be ready over the next 10 days.
As general manager of Duraplast, a five-year-old company that recycles Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste for use in roof shingles, Toppin held responsibility for the overall operations and marketing throughout the Caribbean.
On his watch, the 14-employee firm has expanded beyond Barbados and into markets in Trinidad & Tobago, Belize, St Kitts, Cayman Islands, St Lucia and Miami.
Toppin, who holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Cincinnati (USA), is a former director of the Sugar Technology Research Unit with the Barbados Agricultural Management Company.
* Editor's Note: The WICB has contacted CaribbeanCricket.com to assert that former CEO Roger Brathwaite was not dismissed. We apologise to Mr Brathwaite and wish him the very best in his future endeavours.