Chairman of the Diego Martin Regional Corporation Anthony Sammy is denying allegations of wrongdoing, made by former councillor Wazim Daniel.Daniel told a meeting of the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) in Diego Martin on Tuesday that Sammy spent some $200,000 on a late Independence concert and paid DJ Tank $50,000 for music at the event.Responding to the allegations yesterday, Sammy said he did no wrong. Dealing with the Independence Day concert, he said all corporations were allocated between $200,000 and $250,000 to host an Independence event.
He said the funds were received late and because of flooding in the region, it was decided to host the event on October 6. He said the funds allocated for a specific project must be spent on the project.
Sammy said the money cannot be used on any other project like box drains or road paving. He said the concert was "no secret event."He said if the money was not spent on the project it would have to be returned to the Government. He said the event was held in October because the people of Diego Martin had experienced challenges after severe flooding in September and they needed to exhale.On the payment to the DJ, Sammy said that money was for the stage, lights, back-up generator, public address system and more.He said the $50,000 was "a joke" compared to the amount of work the DJ had to do for the entire day and night.
Sammy also said he was seeking to review a recording of Daniel's statement with his attorney as he was threatened by the former councillor. Daniel said the chairman might have to leave DiegoMartin after the elections on October 21. Sammy said he might consider legal options after viewing the video. He said Daniel was an absentee councillor as he missed several meeting during the past three years."He never did anything of significance during his term as a councillor," Sammy added.On Daniel's claim that the event was never advertised, Sammy said it was not the practice to advertise the event. He said a co-ordinator was always used to get a quota and the person is selected based on that information.