Warner buys ticket for Imbert

At a post Cabinet press briefing on Thursday, Imbert said that he will be going to watch the match but will not be paying the $500 price for a ticket to the Covered Stands since the stadium belongs to the government of Trinidad and Tobago.

Following is Warner’s response:

“I have learnt through the media that the Honourable Minister of Works, Colm Imbert, has stated he does not intend to pay the $500 entrance fee to view the World Cup warm-up match between Peru and Trinidad and Tobago at the National Stadium on May 10th.

According to the media reports Mr Imbert claims that the National Stadium belongs to the state and that the Government is a custodian of the property which entitles him to go there apparently even when there is an event for which it is rented.

Following through on the Honourable Minister’s logic we can expect him not to pay for medical attention at the Eric Williams Medical Complex, BWIA, PTSC, places in secondary schools or any other state owned institution.

Fortunately, fellow Cabinet colleagues, the Mayor of Port-of-Spain, members of the diplomatic corps and protective services, the Governor of the Central Bank and senior officials of state boards, all do not share the opinion that their elevated status permits them free access to the World Cup warm-up match being hosted at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in part to raise funds for the national team’s preparation efforts.

It is quite disconcerting that with so much important matters of state to be addressed subsequent to a cabinet session that the Honourable Minister would choose to occupy the time with matters such as his refusal to pay to attend the match.

But since “ no-one is above the law” and, in consideration of the fact that the Hasely Crawford Stadium belongs to the people of Trinidad and Tobago and not the Government, I have taken it upon myself to purchase the ticket for Minister Imbert to be seated among the 66 paying presidents of the Caribbean Football Union who have come in from overseas to attend the match and who have each paid for his/her ticket and I have so advised the ticket collectors at the VIP entrance of the covered stand.

May I take this opportunity provided by the Honourable Minister of Works and Transport to remind his administration that the TTFF has only today received official notification from the ministry of sports of the publicly announced allocation of funds for the Soca Warriors World Cup, a mere few weeks away from the event in Germany, to say that, the much promised release of the approved funds for today, will now be done “ some time next week.”

Perhaps the Minister’s refusal to pay to attend the match is consistent with his Government’s absence of support for the Soca Warriors.