Soca Warriors should thank the people
The manner in which the Prime Minister made the announcement the Government would pay the Soca Warriors the US$1.3 million owed to them makes one think the money is coming from her personal savings. The money belongs to the people of T&T. It is we who are footing the bill.
The citizens were proud of the Soca Warriors and always felt they ought to be given what was owed to them. However, the money ought to have come from the source which received the football funds in the first place. As it is, the source keeps the money and we have to come up with more money to pay the footballers.
Hundreds of millions are spent on the LifeSport programme for no sport whatsoever. The Soca Warriors qualified for the World Cup, so why withhold monies due to them?
However, I have one word to Brent Sancho, to Mayor Raymond Tim Kee, and the others: it is we the people who are paying you. Not Kamla. You all should send a sincere thank you to the people of T&T.
The democratic process, however, demands the proposed payment be debated in Parliament. The payment was not in the additional budget allocation, which was debated, and therefore it had to have been a “vaps”. The Government, by making this payment, could be setting a dangerous precedent. The implications must be fully explored in a Parliament so that the people can be informed.
The Government cannot distribute taxpayers’ money as it likes solely for political gain.