Black Immigrant Daily News

Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament (MP) for South West St Catherine, Everald Warmington, continues to face fire over purported racial comments that he made about Opposition Leader Mark Golding on the weekend just gone.

However, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), while describing the comments by Warmington as ‘unfortunate’, said they do not reflect the inclusive nature of the party which has a mixture of races among its membership.

“… The comment is a political comment, because I think Mr Warmington was responding to some comments (that were) made before,” said JLP General Secretary, Dr Horace Chang, at a party press conference on Thursday.

“It’s such an unfortunate comment, but there is no way (there is) any ethnic divisions in Jamaica in the political arena,” declared Chang, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister.

Dr Horace Chang

Known for his controversial statements and tongue lashings of Opposition colleagues in Parliament, and members of the media, Warmington took to the stage of a JLP meeting in Cheesefield, North East St Catherine on Sunday, where he took on issues relative to the racial background of the People’s National Party (PNP) president.

“Weh Mark Golding mother and father come from? If he wants to be prime minister, guh back a England, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, but him nah beat Andrew Michael Holness,” Warmington told party supporters.

“I don’t talk about colour and race, but they (the PNP) started it, so let me finish it. Dem seh (former Prime Minister Edward) Seaga born up deh so, but weh fi dem leader come from? Backra master,” Warmington added.

In response to the development, the powerful and influential Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), led by Keith Duncan, issued a statement on Wednesday, in which it condemned Warmington’s comments, describing them as “divisive” and statements that “have no place in the Jamaican context now or in the past, as it is totally inconsistent with our motto, ‘Out of Many, One People’.”

Keith Duncan

In fact, the PSOJ suggested that the politician’s utterances contradicted the Political Code of Conduct, which requires that party officials should not make statements which “are malicious in reference to opposing candidates, their families and party officials”.

Added the PSOJ: “We cannot expect to positively address our social issues if our leaders display poor judgement in their tone and statements towards each other. Distasteful and divisive statements from either side of the political fence cannot be condoned or supported.”

It has since been reported that Political Ombudsman Donna Parchment Brown has advised Warmington and the general secretaries of both major political parties that she has launched a probe into the controversial remarks.

Warmington, in his usual blunt style, has since scoffed at the probe by the ombudsman and the reprimand that was issued by the PSOJ, in a media interview.

“The likkle ting weh yuh call PSOJ, did they condemn Mark Golding when him call the chairman of the party (JLP), Bobby Montague, the likkle bwoy? Did they? No, they didn’t,” Warmington is quoted as saying by a local media house.

Golding had been asked by Parchment Brown to publicly apologise for his comment about Robert Montague or pay a fine of $20,000, but to date, there has been no indication that the Opposition leader has apologised.

Despite that description of Montague by her party president, PNP Chairman, Dr Angela Brown Burke, said Prime Minister Andrew Holness should address the “racially-charged” comments from Warmington against Golding.

“It was said on a JLP platform, and my understanding is that senior members of the JLP leadership were actually in attendance, and I believe where we are in the development of our country and what we expect of our leaders, that statement is an abomination, and should be rejected by the leadership of the Jamaica Labour Party,” insisted Brown Burke.

Dr Angela Brown Burke

“… The colour of a man’s skin or woman’s skin is not what recommends or denies them from any position in this country,” she said in a radio interview.

For Principal Director of National Integrity Action, Professor Trevor Munroe, Warmington should be dealt with by either being demoted or being asked to resign for his remarks.

While arguing that the comments by the senior politician were “out of order”, Munroe said the remarks could damage the integrity of the Government and weaken public trust in the Administration.

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Sports

Brent Sancho – Photo by Joel Bailey

FORMER TT footballers Shaka Hislop and Brent Sancho did not hold back from sharing their disappointment in former FIFA vice president Jack Warner in Netflix’s new docuseries FIFA: Uncovered.

The four-episode series extensively covers allegations of corruption in the world governing body for football. It was released on Wednesday.

Sancho praised Warner – or what he thought him to be – saying that in the Caribbean, there’s a “post-Jack and a pre-Jack (era).”

The pre-Jack era, he said, most “went about their business on their own…Twenty-five countries reporting back to Concacaf and FIFA.

“When Jack came in, he united the Caribbean and he gave every single Caribbean nation –whether you’re small as Turks and Caicos or as big as Cuba – a sense of belonging.”

He added that Warner “believed that the Caribbean should be hosting World Cups. He believed that anything that Europe gets or Africa gets or Asia gets, that the Caribbean should get as well.”

He said Warner had a “very powerful hand” in TT football.

“Nothing happened without him.”

The docuseries also featured clips of the TT squad that qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany – which included Hislop as goalkeeper and Sancho as a defender.

Hislop recalled fond memories of those times, but also spoke about financial negotiations with Warner.

“Jack made all the decisions around our football for quite some time. He wanted to have influence on people’s careers.”

Sancho recalled players having a meeting with Warner at which they asked for a “70/30 split for the commercial revenues that were derived from the World Cup.”

He said they were all shocked when Warner agreed, especially as he was such a “powerful” man.

A qualification bonus was also discussed where they agreed on a 50/50 split.

But after this, “Everything started to go downhill,” Sancho said.

During their World Cup run, Sancho said he began to see deductions for accommodation in Austria and Germany, and airfare, among other things, being deducted from their commercial revenue.

Sancho said, “All the trust and all the faith that we had in Mr Warner went immediately out the door, because how dare you take away our only moment we had of joy playing in the biggest sporting occasion?

“It felt like that ripped that away from us.”

He said after TT’s World Cup run ended, a coach called him and said he’d like to recruit him but couldn’t, because: “You are blacklisted. We’re not allowed to pick any of the guys that’s involved in the bonus dispute.”

Hislop said there’s still around $100 million “that is totally and completely unaccounted for.

“Jack never really had to account for where that money went.”

Former FIFA vice president Jack Warner – Photo by Angelo Marcelle

In 2014, the TT government agreed to pay the 2006 World Cup squad the outstanding US$1.3 million owed to them.

During his tenure at FIFA, Warner was accused of racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, and bribery, and allegedly accepted millions of dollars in bribes to ensure South Africa became World Cup hosts in 2010.

Former FIFA officials recalled other countries who wished to host the 2010 World Cup giving “royal treatment” to Warner and his colleagues, but to no avail.

The docuseries also showed the late South African President Nelson Mandela’s visit to TT, which interviewees believed was a further “PR stunt” for people to favour Warner.

Former FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said in 2007, he learnt a $10 million payment was to be made to the CFU (Caribbean Football Union) and Warner by South Africa to “fund the African diaspora in the Caribbean.

“There was a lot of pressure from Jack Warner to proceed with the payments,” he said.

In May 2011 at a Concacaf congress ahead of FIFA’s presidential elections, Blatter awarded a $1 million development grant to Concacaf – which was then headed by Warner.

Former US Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati said, “It was about as blatant as one could be in terms of, you know, ‘Let me give you a gift for your region, Mr Warner, in front of all your members 30 or 60 days before an election.”

Warner then held another congress at the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain at which another FIFA presidential candidate Mohamed Bin Hammam spoke.

But after Hammam’s presentation, the heads of all football federations in Concacaf were invited somewhere to collect “a gift.”

The gifts were envelopes with some $40,000 inside.

Many took the money but others refused and reported it.

Bin Hammam would later withdraw from the presidential race and Warner was suspended over allegations of bribery. Warner eventually resigned and FIFA banned him from any involvement in football for life.

Newsday contacted Warner before the release of the docuseries but he said he was not interested in it.

“I’m not aware of it and I don’t want to be aware of it.

“It doesn’t really interest me,” he said.

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News

File photo: Water and Sewage Authrity (WASA) Trincity Regional Centre, Trincity. Photo by Roger Jacob

The Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) on Friday evening announced that the supply of water has been restored in several areas which experienced disruptions because of high turbidity from flooding at water-treatment plants.

In a media release on Friday, WASA said there will be stoppages to remove debris but production was back at optimum.

“All facilities in Trinidad and Tobago are back in operation. However, some facilities require intermittent stoppage to clear debris and silt that continue to travel down the watercourses and clog the pump intakes.

“Caroni is back to full production at 75mgd (million gallons per day). The North Oropouche facility is experiencing reduced production, due to a mechanical issue with one of the raw-water pumps. Repairs are underway and should be corrected by Saturday evening. The authority is committed to restoring full service to all affected, and thanks customers for their patience and understanding.”

On Thursday, WASA announced that production dropped owing to rising turbulent river levels which affected 11 water treatment plants. The authority said two leaks also identified in east Trinidad on the North Oropouche 42-inch transmission main were repaired.

“The authority immediately mobilised to have these leaks repaired, and faced challenges of both terrain, and the logistics of accessing team members who were marooned at their homes due to floodwaters.”

Repairs were completed at Daniel Trace at 9 pm on Thursday, and temporary repairs were completed at Pine Settlement at 3 am on Friday.

“The authority is working to remove the pipe from the river channel, which has eroded exposing the

mains, and instead have it suspended over the river as the permanent solution. In the interim, to

restore supply to affected customers, a temporary solution was used. The permanent solution should

be completed within two weeks.”

Disruptions were also recorded in areas on the North Coast served by Tyrico and Blanchisseuse water-treatment plants.

WASA said pipe-borne water was provided for those affected by the downed plants, with priority given to hospitals, schools, critical institutions and senior-citizens homes.

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The Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training wishes to inform parents and guardians of students attending the Dame Pearlette Louisy Primary School that all grades except kindergarten and grade-ones will resume in-class instruction from Monday 14th November, 2022.

Classes for the kindergarten and grade-one levels will be conducted utilising the remote-learning modality, as cleaning-up and repair work continue on the ground-floor of the school compound, following heavy rains and flooding in the north of the island a week ago.

The Dame Pearlette Louisy Primary School, following critical assessment in the aftermath of the unexpected floods, was estimated to have received extensive damage to the ground floor, where flood waters rose to a height of three feet., submerging all furniture, books and other instructional materials and office equipment with a thick layer of silt.

The Ministry wishes to thank everyone who assisted in any way with the clean-up activities at the school following the flood, and with various restorative measures necessary for returning a sense of normalcy to the school.

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SOURCE: Ministry of Education     

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