Member of Parliament for Chaguanas West Jack Warner today responded to newspaper reports that CONCACAF had taken legal action preventing him from selling the Centre of Excellence in Macoya. Warner said the Centre of Excellence is not for sale, and never was. The following is Warner's statement -
I promised never to respond to any article written about Jack Warner in relation to CONCACAF and FIFA but two articles, “CONCACAF Blocks Jack” - Express and "BLOCKED" - Newsday, which are nothing more than blatant and outright lies have forced me to respond.
The contents of these articles I was told by some of my former Cabinet colleagues were discussed in Cabinet only last week Thursday.
So now that the Government is in trouble it does not surprise me that a Jack Warner/CONCACAF story is their medium for distraction.
The truth is, if anyone can come forward with an iota of evidence to support that the Centre of Excellence is being sold by Jack Warner to any consortium of businessmen, local or foreign, I will sell all my worldly possessions to that person for one dollar.
One Dollar!
But I am not fazed because I was told by my friends in Government that this is just the beginning of many attacks to be leveled against Jack Warner to discredit me as a person and as a threat to the political landscape.
My sources have even told me that this is a personal attack against me by the Attorney General and advised that I should not be shocked if he himself called CONCACAF to pursue this action. That an Attorney General can influence the local media to such an extent is simply frightening.
However, if CONCACAF indeed has filed a caveat against me all I can say is that both CONCACAF and FIFA have unlimited funding and they can spend their money as they wish if they want to do that.
But if FIFA and CONCACAF wish to allow this People’s Partnership Government to influence them to become embroiled in the locally immoral and corrupt politics, this is sad and disturbing.
The Press must emerge as a credible institution. This is the same local Press that found one hundred DEA agents in Trinidad.
This is the same local Press that cannot even inform us about outstanding stories such as e-mailgate, the multi-million dollar drug bust, the hit and run of a Chaguanas West constituent by the Attorney General’s driver, the use of confidential information from a police file, among many others.
I wish to state categorically that the Centre of Excellence is not for sale.
Let me also state that CONCACAF does not have any equitable interest in the Centre of Excellence and has no claims to ownership.
I also wish to state that the Centre of Excellence is not in financial trouble.
Instead of seeking to discredit Jack Warner I wish to advise the “Piggy Partnership” to focus on correcting the sexual immorality and corruption scandals that are now plaguing the coalition and leave Jack Warner alone.
Jack Warner
April 16, 2014