Jack Warner has stepped down from the three positions–Cabinet Minister, MP and UNC chairman–which he has held since the People's Partnership came into power in 2010. His decision came in the wake of a damning report by Concacaf's Integrity Commission of his former tenure with the body. Following is part three of an abbreviated version of the speech he delivered to his constituents in Chaguanas on Thursday night on the issue.
I was Blatter's idol then and he was mine. Tonight is not the time nor the place to go into when and why that all changed. Suffice it to say that because of the construction of the Centre of Excellence and the technical work being taught there Jamaica qualified for the World Cup in 1998 and T&T in 2006. Because of Blatter's assistance to the Caribbean Diaspora, for two consecutive years the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) was able to host in T&T age group competitions in July and August for the entire Caribbean where we paid for all the countries football youth teams in the Caribbean: (1) Airfare for 23 persons, (2) Hotel accommodation, (3) Internal travel, (4) Out of pocket allowance for players and officials (5) Out of pocket allowance for referees, linesmen and match commissioners. On account of this, for the first time ever in the history of Caribbean football, two Caribbean countries qualified together for a World Cup Under-17 final, this time in South Korea in 2007–Haiti and T&T.
So there was no ambiguity. There was no uncertainty. There was no secret in my dealings towards and with Dr Havelange and the Centre of Excellence. So the Centre of Excellence was built, first by a loan that was given to Jack Warner that was converted into a grant and by further assistance from Dr Havelange after whom I named the Centre.
The original copies of these letters are supposed to be in the possession of Concacaf. Were these letters disclosed to the Concacaf Integrity Committee headed by Sir David Simmons? I don't know.
Sir David Simmons and his committee in their Integrity Committee report said they based their conclusions on the documents and testimonies that were made available to them. Therefore, if these documents which are in the possession of Concacaf were never disclosed to the Simmons committee and to the investigators, would you not agree that the conclusions formed by the committee are incorrect and that the committee has been deliberately misled into maligning Jack Warner?
I say tonight that I hold no malice with regard to this matter against Sir David Simmons and his two other committee members because they were deceived if these letters were not disclosed to them.
For 22 years my opponents, both at home and abroad, have dogged me–this young man (at the time) born in Rio Claro, who had at one time lived in Todd's Road and Longdenville, where he cut cane, beat rice, dance cocoa and fished for coscorub. This young man, they felt, should not be so powerful. For 22 years they have dogged me; never have I ever been charged for anything.
I grudgingly show these documents to you tonight because it would be wrong of me to let you continue to hurt. So I do it! And let me remind you that at no point in time have I ever kept the ownership of the Centre of Excellence a secret. As late as July 19 2012 in a press briefing, Ian Prescott from the Express, yes the same Express newspaper did ask me about the Centre of Excellence and I answered him truthfully. What did I say?
In an article titled–Did CFU Lie–written by Ian Prescott in the Express of July 19, 2012, among other things I said: My dear Constituents and members of the national community, it is instructive to note the headquarters of the Concacaf had been located in Guatemala from 1961 when the Confederation was formed. It was only registered in 1994 in the Bahamas under the Company's Act.
Here is the Certificate of Incorporation from the Bahamas registry. You will see where it says September 20, 1994. However, in 1996 and 1998 when the land was acquired and the Centre of Excellence built, Concacaf was not even registered as a legal entity in T&T.
Concacaf was registered in T&T as an external company on October 27, 1999. Here is the certificate of incorporation; a government document with the stamp and signature of the registrar general. Even when I changed the name of the Centre of Excellence to the Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence, Concacaf still was not registered in T&T. And here is the certificate from the registrar general's office to show where the name was changed on February 22, 1999.
Concacaf was registered in T&T on October 27, 1999. Up until the year 2000, there is not a single document that suggests that the Centre of Excellence was the property of Fifa or the Concacaf. How come all of a sudden it is now the property of Concacaf? On August 19, 2003, a valuation report by Linden Scott & Associates was sent to Concacaf on the Concacaf Centre of Excellence. Take a look at the cover page of the valuation report.
Why was no question asked then? Don't answer, I will tell you why. It was because all that time I was Blatter's idol and he was mine. I was in his good books. Tonight let me ask you this: Fifa has more lawyers available to it than T&T put together. If Fifa was building the Centre of Excellence or financing it through a loan, don't you think Fifa's lawyers would have requested sight of the deed to the property upon which the facility was to be built before they disburse US$6 million in funding?
Don't you think at least one lawyer would have asked to see the legal documents for the property if it belonged to the Fifa? When Fifa gives a country a Goal Project it asks for all kinds of legal titles and documents. Why was none ever, ever asked for in this case?
Next question: Would you pay rent to live in your own house? I am going to show you some invoices and you tell me why Fifa and Concacaf would pay to use the facilities at the Centre of Excellence if they had owned it. In fact, they did not even get a discount when they rented it. You would think that a part-owner might get a discount, but they both paid the full price for their respective bills.
I am now going to show you copies of invoices to Fifa Development from the Dr Joao Havelange Centre of Excellence: Rental of office space for January 2010, dated January 31, 2010–amount $10,434.78 plus sales tax of $1,565.22. Total of $12,000 and that was the rent for the months from January 2010 to December 2010. The rent was increased in January 2011 for the year 2011 but since I could not find that receipt I will show you a copy of the rent income for February 2011.
Rental of office space for February 2011–amount $17,391.30 plus tax of $2,608.07. Total amount $20,000. Here is another copy of an invoice for a Fifa event at the centre. Invoice to Fifa Development dated August 25, 2010. Cleaning fee for the Ken Galt Hall, tables, padded chairs and two sets of table cloths for ten days.
And they paid the bill in full–$31,528.40. Again, here is another invoice to Fifa Development for another Fifa event dated May 20, 2010. Six single rooms, 19 double rooms and two new rooms–all for 11 nights between August 31 and September 11. Total–$165,440. And here is the receipt for the payment of $100,000–balance $65,440; made to the Fifa Development Office on August 25, 2010, which balance they paid in full. Not one cent discount! Not a half penny off!
I have always said I have nothing to fear and my hands are clean. But did you not notice that the timing of the sustained and mounting attacks by my detractors and some elements in the local and international media? It has been timed like clockwork to coincide with last Friday's Concacaf congress in Panama when this so-called integrity report would be released? The truth is that the Centre of Excellence was a gift to Jack Warner to improve the development of football within the CFU and without a doubt it has achieved its goal.
In 1998, Jamaica became the first English speaking Caribbean country to qualify for a Fifa World Cup; in 2006, T&T became the second English speaking Caribbean country to qualify. My track record in football shows that I met and fulfilled every objective as it relates to the development of football both in the Caribbean and the wider Concacaf. When I entered Concacaf, CFU nations never stood a chance of qualifying for a Fifa World Cup.
When I left, two CFU nations–Haiti and T&T had qualified in the same year for the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Korea in 2007. My stewardship within the Fifa, Concacaf and CFU is beyond repute. Every vicious allegation levelled against me is without basis. Not because I choose to remain quiet means I have no defence. But truth, when crushed to the ground will always rise.
It is still a mystery to me to fathom how a little country boy from Todd's Road, Longdenville and Chaguanas could deceive for so long the mighty Fifa with more than 200 lawyers and an annual budget of US$2 billion for so long. One must ask the question how did little Jack Warner manage to stay in his corner under the radar and enjoyed so much success for so long?
Or is it just that what we are seeing today is the vindictiveness of an oligarchy against one who attempted to challenge the power of a eurocentric and white regime and thus balance the playing field so that leaders of every colour, race and ethnicity could have a fair chance to become a president of Fifa? But enough of Fifa, Concacaf, the CFU and the Centre of Excellence for now...
I go now to the matter that I really want to talk to you about, let me tell you why I felt it necessary to tender my resignation first as a government minister and then as the chairman of the UNC. I have said before that the catalyst for my decision was the statement by the Prime Minister without even speaking to me that she was "stunned" when the Integrity Committee Report was revealed last Friday. Of course, on Sunday last when I asked the Honourable Prime Minister about that remark she said she never said so and I do believe her.
I also did read as well that she intended to take action on her return to Trinidad. As I said before, last Sunday I went to the prime minister's residence with my folder of papers. At the very start of my conversation with her, I told her that I was offering my resignation should she think that she needs it, and then I went through page-by-page with her, the vast majority of the documents shown to you here tonight.
Unfortunately, the circumstances as they unfolded did not allow me the privilege to make similar presentations to the other members of government and therefore they did not have the privilege and benefit of this information.
At last Sunday's meeting, I told the PM that in order to give her peace of mind that I will resign on Friday, April 26, 2013, thereby giving me enough time to tie up some loose ends at the ministry as well as discuss the SOFA Bill in the F&GP Committee–a bill to which I had serious objections. Our prime minister is a very brilliant legal mind and I do believe that she followed my presentation and the facts.
Following my presentation, the Honourable Prime Minister advised me that she will consider my resignation offer. I then left the prime minister's residence with the intention of going to a puja in Trincity, but upon coming outside of her office I saw three MPs lurking outside the room and I knew then that everything I said to the PM would have been in vain.
The rest is history. I was called out of the puja by my security detail to call the Prime Minister, who then advised me that she had reconsidered and that she would prefer to accept my resignation now. I said ok and then hustled to the Ministry to clear my desk.
Friends, it is easy to fight external enemies like the PNM and Rowley but the hardest fight is to strike a blow against internal enemies and I have had to fight against my internal enemies for too long. If we in our party continue to be consumed by hatred for each other as we have practiced in the past we will not survive. I am not bitter but when my friends are targeted, when my associates are targeted, when their jobs are threatened because of their association with me, then we can never be successful ever again.
My three sons have opted to live outside of T&T for peace of mind and even that they have been denied. We cannot win as a party if a Cabinet member bears so much malice as to deprive me from telling my side of the story by instructing CNMG to cancel the coverage of tonight's meeting.
We cannot win as a party if within one day at the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, we are threatening to change the communication departments in the ministry because of its ethnic composition. We cannot win my people if as a government, people's jobs are lost because of their closeness to Jack Warner.
When these things begin to happen it is because some of us are misinterpreting the responsibilities given to us and when large portfolios like two mega ministries are placed under one man's control. It sends the wrong message not only to the person in charge, but also to the national community, especially when one's race or ethnicity can be punished because of the historical patterns of some of us. I cannot live with that kind of belligerence nor should any member of the People's Partnership Government.
This hurts our party. And it hurts our government. Whether they like it or not I am and will continue to be a member of the United National Congress. I will never hurt my party nor interfere with its chances to win an election. In 2008, I fought to put this party on an even footing. With the Movement for Change, my colleagues and I traversed this country from community to community for 14 months seeking ways to get our party ready to take over the reins of power and today I will do nothing to change that.
Many have advised me to make a clean break and begin anew, but I am UNC and UNC I will remain. I am UNC and with the UNC is where my heart will always be. I love my party but you my constituents, I love you more. I am still confident that no PNM under Rowley or this crop of politicians will be a better government than the People's Partnership and therefore I will re-dedicate my energies to ensure that such never takes place.
Now, before I conclude, what of Keith Rowley, an everlastingly bitter man, an unhappy man, a man whose ambitions will never be fulfilled living forever in the shadows of his peers. A man characterised by his leader as a raging bull after he was kicked out of the Cabinet for unbecoming behaviour. This is the man who sees me as a threat to his ambitions of power and will do whatever is necessary–lie, connive, even sleep with the devil to make his dream come true.
But I have decided to be the bigger man and the better man tonight. I have decided that our country is reeking with too much hate and too much bitterness. There is too much rancour among us and as adults we are not providing our children with the right kind of examples they need.
I had planned to attack Rowley viciously here tonight and tell you about him from the cradle to the present, including his stint as dean of discipline at Roxborough Government Secondary School some forty years ago up to the PNM Carnival fete at Balisier House, but on reflection tonight is not the night for that.
Armed with affidavits and statements of all kinds I am prepared, but not tonight. There will be other nights...I promise you. So with dignity I will go to the Parliament tomorrow and face Rowley and his motion. I will not say nor do anything to bring the Parliament into disrepute in any way. In fact, knowing our speaker, he won't even allow it. So for now I will leave Rowley.
Before I close tonight, I know you are all asking what next for Jack Warner? Let me tell you that when I spoke with the prime minister at her residence on Sunday I told her that if it became necessary for me to resign as minister and UNC Chairman–which it now has–I would also wish to resign as the MP for Chaguanas West.
I felt that the proper thing to do would be to offer you my constituents, the explanation and the facts and resign as the Member of Parliament for Chaguanas West in keeping with the highest Parliamentary traditions. In my meeting last Sunday, I had advised the prime minister of my thinking on this matter. I also did tell her that I will want to contest the bye-election as a UNC Candidate for the Chaguanas West seat as I am UNC to the bone.
And as such, with events having unfolded as they are to this point, I wish to let you know that tomorrow, Friday, I would be advising the Speaker of the House of Representatives that effective midnight on Friday night I am resigning as Member of Parliament for Chaguanas West.
Section 69 (3) of the Constitution of the Republic of Tobago states that where a vacancy arises in the House of Representatives within the first four years of the life of the Parliament a bye-election shall be held to fill such vacancy not later than 90 days from the date of the announcement of the vacancy by the speaker. Ninety days from April 25, 2013 will be July 24, 2013 and who knows? With luck, love and your support, Jack Warner will be back.
I know many of you are still crying and I too as well am crying but from inside where it is even more painful. The prime minister in our meeting last Sunday even suggested that even if I do offer myself up for re-election I shall win and with your help and support, I too do feel so. Then together–hand in hand–we shall set right all the wrongs that have been committed.
We shall work together to strengthen our UNC and our government and ensure that the people are truly always the first to be served–and that they are served with dignity. I promise that come what may, I will never leave you and I will never disappoint you.
So on Saturday a new office sign goes up to replace the Chaguanas West MP sign and then the bye-election campaign starts. I will still continue to see people from all walks of life, all over the country, from 1:30 am to 5:30 pm on Saturday. However, please be advised that it may take a little longer to achieve success since I will no longer be a Member of Parliament but many of my former Cabinet colleagues have assured me that nothing will change.
On Friday May 24, 2013, a new weekly newspaper shall be launched–Sunshine Newspaper–designed to bring a new hope into your lives. And come July 24, 2013 who knows, with your love, your support and your understanding, I shall be your MP again.
I thank all of the members of the Protective Services for their support these past trying months. Based on their collective efforts, we were able to bring serious crimes down by over 35 per cent and even murders have been reduced from an all time high of 38 and 46 in January and February respectively, to 19 and 14 in March and April to date. A finer bunch of men and women one could not have asked for.
In Laventille, residents can now breathe freely again. I wish I could have done more to give the SRPs and Municipal Police Officers their outstanding allowances or even a new home for our Immigration Department as well as our National Security Operation Centre. But I am sure that in the fullness of time those goals and more shall be attained.
I thank all the former members of staff of the Ministry of National Security especially the members of my security detail for their untiring commitment and dedication. But most important of all, I thank you my constituents for giving me the hope to carry on–today–a new day has dawned. I thank you.
When these things begin to happen it is because some of us are misinterpreting the responsibilities given to us and when large portfolios like two mega ministries are placed under one man's control. It sends the wrong message not only to the person in charge, but also to the national community, especially when one's race or ethnicity can be punished because of the historical patterns of some of us. I cannot live with that kind of belligerence nor should any member of the People's Partnership Government.
This hurts our party. And it hurts our government. Whether they like it or not I am and will continue to be a member of the United National Congress. I will never hurt my party nor interfere with its chances to win an election. In 2008, I fought to put this party on an even footing. With the Movement for Change, my colleagues and I traversed this country from community to community for 14 months seeking ways to get our party ready to take over the reins of power and today I will do nothing to change that.
Many have advised me to make a clean break and begin anew, but I am UNC and UNC I will remain. I am UNC and with the UNC is where my heart will always be. I love my party but you my constituents, I love you more. I am still confident that no PNM under Rowley or this crop of politicians will be a better government than the People's Partnership and therefore I will re-dedicate my energies to ensure that such never takes place.
Now, before I conclude, what of Keith Rowley, an everlastingly bitter man, an unhappy man, a man whose ambitions will never be fulfilled living forever in the shadows of his peers. A man characterised by his leader as a raging bull after he was kicked out of the Cabinet for unbecoming behaviour.
This is the man who sees me as a threat to his ambitions of power and will do whatever is necessary–lie, connive, even sleep with the devil to make his dream come true. But I have decided to be the bigger man and the better man tonight. I have decided that our country is reeking with too much hate and too much bitterness. There is too much rancour among us and as adults we are not providing our children with the right kind of examples they need.
I had planned to attack Rowley viciously here tonight and tell you about him from the cradle to the present, including his stint as dean of discipline at Roxborough Government Secondary School some forty years ago up to the PNM Carnival fete at Balisier House, but on reflection tonight is not the night for that. Armed with affidavits and statements of all kinds I am prepared, but not tonight.
There will be other nights...I promise you. So with dignity I will go to the Parliament tomorrow and face Rowley and his motion. I will not say nor do anything to bring the Parliament into disrepute in any way. In fact, knowing our speaker, he won't even allow it. So for now I will leave Rowley.
Before I close tonight, I know you are all asking what next for Jack Warner? Let me tell you that when I spoke with the prime minister at her residence on Sunday I told her that if it became necessary for me to resign as minister and UNC Chairman–which it now has–I would also wish to resign as the MP for Chaguanas West.
I felt that the proper thing to do would be to offer you my constituents, the explanation and the facts and resign as the Member of Parliament for Chaguanas West in keeping with the highest Parliamentary traditions. In my meeting last Sunday, I had advised the prime minister of my thinking on this matter.
I also did tell her that I will want to contest the bye-election as a UNC Candidate for the Chaguanas West seat as I am UNC to the bone. And as such, with events having unfolded as they are to this point, I wish to let you know that tomorrow, Friday, I would be advising the Speaker of the House of Representatives that effective midnight on Friday night I am resigning as Member of Parliament for Chaguanas West.
Section 69 (3) of the Constitution of the Republic of Tobago states that where a vacancy arises in the House of Representatives within the first four years of the life of the Parliament a bye-election shall be held to fill such vacancy not later than 90 days from the date of the announcement of the vacancy by the speaker. Ninety days from April 25, 2013 will be July 24, 2013 and who knows?
With luck, love and your support, Jack Warner will be back. I know many of you are still crying and I too as well am crying but from inside where it is even more painful. The prime minister in our meeting last Sunday even suggested that even if I do offer myself up for re-election I shall win and with your help and support, I too do feel so.
Then together–hand in hand–we shall set right all the wrongs that have been committed. We shall work together to strengthen our UNC and our government and ensure that the people are truly always the first to be served–and that they are served with dignity. I promise that come what may, I will never leave you and I will never disappoint you.
So on Saturday a new office sign goes up to replace the Chaguanas West MP sign and then the bye-election campaign starts. I will still continue to see people from all walks of life, all over the country, from 1:30 am to 5:30 pm on Saturday. However, please be advised that it may take a little longer to achieve success since I will no longer be a Member of Parliament but many of my former Cabinet colleagues have assured me that nothing will change.
On Friday May 24, 2013, a new weekly newspaper shall be launched–Sunshine Newspaper–designed to bring a new hope into your lives. And come July 24, 2013 who knows, with your love, your support and your understanding, I shall be your MP again.
I thank all of the members of the Protective Services for their support these past trying months. Based on their collective efforts, we were able to bring serious crimes down by over 35 per cent and even murders have been reduced from an all time high of 38 and 46 in January and February respectively, to 19 and 14 in March and April to date. A finer bunch of men and women one could not have asked for.
In Laventille, residents can now breathe freely again. I wish I could have done more to give the SRPs and Municipal Police Officers their outstanding allowances or even a new home for our Immigration Department as well as our National Security Operation Centre. But I am sure that in the fullness of time those goals and more shall be attained.
I thank all the former members of staff of the Ministry of National Security especially the members of my security detail for their untiring commitment and dedication. But most important of all, I thank you my constituents for giving me the hope to carry on–today–a new day has dawned. I thank you.