Regrello clarifies ‘Jamaica, best country’ statement: Am I right or wrong?

YVONNE WEBB

San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello has come in for some blows for describing Trinidad and Tobago as the second best country in the Caribbean to Jamaica, which he said was the best.

Yesterday, as he sought to qualify the context in which the statement was made, in a moment of euphoria during a reception for Jamaican singer Jamar “Chronixx” Mc Naughten, he asked the question, “Am I right or am I wrong?”

Regrello wondered where Jamaica would be if it had the kind of resources TT was blessed with.

In an interview yesterday, Regrello admitted the statement made during Wednesday’s reception for Chronixx, ahead of his One Heart Caribbean Festival concert at Skinner Park today, has drawn some criticism.

He said while he may not have put the statement in perspective, he was really speaking in the context of Jamaica being out front in the field of athletics. He said this was spurred on by a conversation he had on Monday with another Jamaican performer at his office. He said they spoke about TT adopting some of the social programmes Jamaica is engaged in to deal with similar youth challenges in this country.

Regrello said the conversation expanded into other areas, including one in which each claimed to be the number one country in the Caribbean. When the discussion switched to athletics, he said he had to concede that Jamaica, with its famous Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt, was better than TT.

“He (the Jamaican person he engaged in conversation on Monday) came back on Wednesday morning for the Chronixx reception. He told me, ‘Don’t forget Trini, you are number two in athletics’, and that was the context in which I said welcome to San Fernando the second best country in the Caribbean. I also said you have to be gracious when you are losing but that aspect of the conversation was not aired or published.”

Reflecting on the statement yesterday, Regrello admitted it could be thought-provoking in terms of how it is viewed. He asked that it be looked at from the perspective of the national watchwords discipline, production and tolerance which, he suggested, could make us the leading Caribbean country if those principles are adhered to.

“We are provoking thought and one could ask, am I right or am I wrong? The thin-skinned ones would say I am wrong. Yes I am Trinidadian, but at the end of the day it begs the question, what constitutes the number one country in the Caribbean? Are we patriotic enough? Are we passionate about our country or committed to the principles and values of those three watchwords?

“Those three watchwords alone could make us the number one country in the Caribbean,” Regrello said. He commended the Jamaicans for their sense of patriotism, saying no matter where a Jamaican found him or herself, one never lost that sense of identity.