Politics Was Not Involved Says, DPM Patrick Faber

Patrick Faber

Since news hit the press late last week, Mayor Kevin Bernard claimed that the Sports Council’s decision to revise the prior Fiestarama agreement was politically motivated. Prior to the meeting this afternoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Sports Patrick Faber assured the press that there was no political power moves at play.

Patrick Faber, Minister of Education, Culture, Youth, and Sports

“What the director says to be the case is absolutely true. Quite often we offer these facilities free of charge or for a little bit of money and we understand that the Mayor has his agenda. In fact the Mayor, I’ll give him the full benefit of the doubt that he is working for his residents in Orange Walk and of course the monies the made from these initiatives are put back into the community. But we also have the other side of that coin where our facilities are so run down end everybody wants it for free or little bit to nothing. Then we are face then in not providing good facilities for our athletes and other people who want to use the facilities. So my intention in going into the meeting this afternoon is to strike a common ground, to say listen while we understand Mr Mayor that you have an agenda of trying to generate as much funds so you can put it back into the Orange Walk community we also have to be able to cover the cost. We want to be able to make sure that we have some kind of small investment that could then be transferred on to the young athletes who want to use the facility down the road. We want to work together. We want to make sure that this is not a political issue. I have seen that being put out there in the stories that are on the media and I believe by the mayor and the council itself on Facebook. And I will tell you, I am the political and I certainly did not give any such instruction. In fact the Mayor will tell you that on occasions gone by when I was contacted to try to intervene I happily do so. So it is not a political issue at all. It is the Director merely trying to make sure that the resources that are own by the council are properly taken care of.”

Fiestarama will take place on the twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth of July.