MATT president resigns over election row

The rift between the two journalists began to unfold when Enoch, current president of the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM), gave MATT until August 15 to schedule the date for a general meeting to elect an executive in a bid to revive the seemingly dormant association.

Victor said yesterday the fallout with Enoch had forced him to step down, an act he had been considering for some months but had held his hand because he tried to keep MATT afloat.

Victor said MATT has been faced with many challenges and needed institutional strengthening in addition to a full-time secretariat. He said he would have preferred to stay on as president but did not want to “stymie the association in the discharge of its mandate.”

In a letter to Victor, dated August 7, Enoch stated that although MATT had been faced with challenges over the past two years, the issues were not unique and were experienced by other associations in the region.

He wrote: “There is an obvious lack of interest on the part of members and it appears now that what was once the most vibrant journalist body in the region is dying.” Enoch continued: “Weak associations do not help the cause of the profession and lead to mediocrity and actions that are inimical to a free press.”

He stated there were several issues in TT and the region on which MATT had been “too silent, missing opportunities to assert itself and make members feel protected.”

This, he said, was unacceptable and defeated the purpose for which national associations function.

Victor responded via email on Tuesday stating he was disappointed in Enoch for adopting the position of releasing his letter to the media without first taking the more studied and measured approach of discussing the issue, which he said, “...in situations like this will be adopted by most good leaders...”

Victor reminded Enoch of his failure to attend MATT’s annual general meeting where an attempt was made by Victor to get the situation “over and done with.”

Victor gave one of his major challenges as his singlehanded attempt to perform the roles of president and treasurer. This, he said, was due to the constant absence of the incumbent treasurer who had ceased to function for several months. “This on-going problem has severely retarded the work of the association,” he said.

Enoch, who is also the Head of News at radio station i95.5fm, is out of the country and could not be reached for comment.