Padarath: Who is high-ranking sport ministry official in sex suit?

ANSWER THIS: Princes Town MP Barry Padarath holds a copy of last Sunday's Newsday, asking for clarification on the lead story at the UNC's Monday Night Forum at the Las Lomas #2 Primary School.  PHOTO BY SUREASH CHOLAI
ANSWER THIS: Princes Town MP Barry Padarath holds a copy of last Sunday's Newsday, asking for clarification on the lead story at the UNC's Monday Night Forum at the Las Lomas #2 Primary School. PHOTO BY SUREASH CHOLAI

JULIEN NEAVES

PRINCES Town MP Barry Padarath has questioned why taxpayers’ money has been used to settle a sexual harassment claim under a non-disclosure agreement and who was the high-ranking Ministry of Sport official involved.

He was speaking at the UNC Monday Night Forum at the Las Lomas Government Primary School.

Padarath held up the front page of the Sunday Newsday of March 25 with the headline Sex Suit Settled, which reported that $150,000 was awarded to Sport Minister Darryl Smith’s former personal secretary, who had challenged her termination in the Industrial Court after an allegation of sexual impropriety against a high-ranking ministry official.

Padarath, whom in 2015 Smith repeatedly called Member for “Princess“ Town in Parliament, said karma was a “helluva thing.”

“Darryl Smith never imagined the member of Princes Town would preside over his political death.”

He said that at the PNM meeting in Diego Martin last week, Planning Minister Camille Robinson-Regis, in the absence of the “romping” sports minister, spoke on the Government’s sports policy for Olympic winners.

“Sometimes I am wondering if they are living in the same world that we are living in. While they went to tell you how the y will reward Olympic medallists, you had just a few weeks ago several Olympic athletes and medallists including (body-builder) Iziah Kanhai, (track athletes) Kelly-Ann Baptiste (and) Richard Thompson saying to this country, ‘Listen, you have given us no funding since 2015 under Kamla Persad-Bissessar, but today you want to tell us about how you will reward us? So how are you preparing us to the stage of medalling?’”

Padarath said it was typical of the PNM to put the cart before the horse. He pointed out that recently in Parliament, Smith read out a long list of athletes who had won medals in 2017, described it as the best year for sport and spoke of several advertisements produced by his ministry.

Padarath said Kanhai, Baptiste and Thompson called on Government to remove them from the advertisements because they had received no funding from the ministry.

“If that is not shame, propaganda, lies and mamaguy, I don’t know what is.”

He said Thompson had cautioned that if Smith continued in the portfolio, athletes would continue to be treated with scorn and disdain. He also criticised the ministry for the lack of accreditation for the Brian Lara Cricket Academy despite promises by Smith in June last year that accreditation would take “two short months.”

UNC deputy political leader Jearlean John also took aim at Smith, saying, “The only sports the minister doing is the fastest hand in the west.”

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