[UPDATED] Shamfa blasts no-show, unresponsive THA

HOURS before the start of the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games, Minister of Sport Shamfa Cudjoe blasted Tobago House of Assembly (THA) officials for poor communication, a no-show to a meeting, among other things, during preparations for the games.

The opening ceremony will be held today at the Hasely Crawford Stadium and the games will end on August 11.

The sporting disciplines include athletics/para-athletics, cycling, swimming, triathlon, rugby sevens, beach volleyball and fast five netball.

Venues are spread across both islands – the Hasely Crawford Stadium, the National Aquatic Centre, the National Cycling Velodrome, the Shaw Park Cultural Complex, Courland Beach Sport Arena and the Buccoo Beach Facility.

There has been some controversy over the Courland facility as the venue for beach volleyball. The sport was initially going to be held at Pigeon Point Beach but in April, the THA decided to create a legacy project in Courland.

Owing to the late arrival of the special grade of sand required, among other things, the facility was only officially ready one day before the games.

Cudjoe had said that the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) complained about this and expressed disappointed in the delays.

On Facebook on Thursday night, Cudjoe posted screenshots of WhatsApp conversations she had with THA assistant secretary for community development, youth development and sport Wane Clarke.

She posted, "As you grapple with shaping and reshaping your narrative, please don’t forget to share with the public how I had to to hunt you down for weeks even months trying to get you to submit the relevant documents and information so that we can get approval from the CGF for the change and confirmation of venue. Tell them how you didn’t answer my calls, and how you agreed to meet and then never showed up. Tell them how Mr (George) Leacock (chairman of the THA-appointed task force for the games) bent over backwards and worked overtime trying to help me to secure a meeting to no avail."

In the screenshots dated as far back as March, Cudjoe tried getting in contact with Clarke more than once, many times receiving no response.

One of the responses – sent to Cudjoe on April 13 – said: "Good night, Minister. I am not in the country. I will be back on Saturday. I will call you as soon as I get back. The service is not good here."

In an interview with Newsday last Wednesday, Cudjoe said the THA had a press conference to announce its venue switch without finalising this with either her or the CGF.

She said people can’t “just wake up one day and (make an) announcement."

In her messages sent to Clarke, she also addressed this, calling it an "interesting development."

She added that the situation caused the chairman of the local organising committee for the games to resign.

She was referring to special adviser to the Sport Minister, Ephraim Serrette.

He was initially the chairman but was replaced by Sport Company (SporTT) chairman Douglas Camacho.

Asked about this on Friday, Serrette laughed and told Newsday: no comment.

On April 19 – the date allegedly set for a meeting with Clarke and THA Secretary of Community Development and Sport Terrance Baynes for 8.30am – Cudjoe messaged Clarke saying she was at the meeting room and no one else was there. She added that she tried to call as well.

Clarke replied at 8.39am saying he was dealing with an emergency so neither him nor Baynes could attend.

Cudjoe responded that she wished he would have said that earlier as she had cancelled her Tobago West constituency business to make the meeting a priority.

She also showed a message she sent to Baynes at 9.01am for feedback on his absence from the meeting but never got a response.

Cudjoe provided additional screenshots to Newsday showing THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine apologising for missing her call, but adding that he had "summoned" Clarke to a meeting with him.

He needed Clarke there, he said, "because I am hearing in the public space positions that are at odds with what the executive council of the THA has agreed to do and what was communicated to the organising committee of the games.

"We have a small local organising committee that is executing the wishes of the executive council. We are still in meeting."

Speaking to Newsday on Friday, Baynes said he was never invited to any such meeting and suggested Newsday contact Clarke.

"I really can't speak for Mr Clarke.

"I have no correspondence from the minister inviting me to any meeting. I don't know where that place is, when that was supposed to be, so she certainly could not have been talking about me.

"I have never received any invitation from the minister as the secretary of the division to attend any meeting whatsoever. None."

He added, "As you can appreciate, it is becoming very tiresome following everything that the minister posts and so on, in all honesty."

Calls and a WhatsApp message to Clarke's cellphone went unanswered up to press time.