The statement from the Office of the Prime Minister
Today, (April 10, 2018) Prime Minister Dr the Honourable Keith Rowley advised Her Excellency Paula-Mae Weekes, President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in keeping with the provision of Section 3(9) of the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, to revoke the appointment of Mr Darryl Smith as Minister in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
This following a meeting between the Prime Minister, the Minister of Planning and Development, the Honourable Camille Robinson-Regis and Mr Smith during which new information came to the attention of the Prime Minister.
The meeting also resulted in the appointment of a committee to thoroughly review the circumstances surrounding the dismissal and payment of compensation to Ms Carrie-Ann Moreau at the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs.
The committee is to be chaired by former Permanent Secretary and Human Resource Expert Ms Jackie Wilson, and includes Ms Folade Mutota of WINAD and Attorney-at-Law Ms Elaine Greene. The committee is expected to report in two weeks.
It is anticipated that all parties involved in any non-disclosure arrangement in this matter will lift such impediment so as to allow the fullest examination of the facts for the benefit of the public.
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PM reshuffles Cabinet amid calls to fire Sport Minister
By Clint Chan Tack
April 10, 2018 – newsday.co.tt
AS IF to prove he really meant he has full faith in his Cabinet, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley did not fire anyone in the latest reshuffle announced yesterday, but instead moved around several ministers chief among them, Sport Minister Darryl Smith, who is now junior Housing Minister and will be working with Rowley, who has assumed the Housing Ministry portfolio.
At the post Cabinet press briefing last week, Rowley declared his full confidence in the Cabinet and also said he will investigate several claims and allegations arising out of the sex scandal within the Sport Ministry in which an official was paid $150,000 by tax payers not to pursue a sex suit filed against a Ministry official and also to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
A release from the Office of the Prime Minister stated Rowley advised President Paula-Mae Weekes to revoke Diego Martin Central MP Smith’s appointment and reassign him as junior minister in the Housing Ministry. As a result of this move, Smith is no longer a Cabinet minister. Rowley also advised Weekes to appoint himself as Housing Minister.
Full Article : newsday.co.tt
“I was feeling very uncomfortable!” The sexual harassment claims that Smith wanted hidden behind NDA
By Lasana Liburd
April 09, 2018 – wired868.com
Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Darryl Smith’s unwanted advances to former personal staff member, Carrie-Ann Moreau, were at the heart of the latter’s trade dispute with the Ministry, which led to a TT$150,000 pay off with taxpayers’ money.
Moreau’s witness statement—published below without accompanying What’s App messages—claimed that she was very uncomfortable with remarks Smith made about her body on several occasions and, after complaining, she was ‘cold shouldered’ by the Sport Minister and subsequently fired.
“[…] That morning upon his arrival at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, the Minister came very close to me and commended me on how well my pants fit,” stated Moreau, about her first moment of genuine discomfort with the Sport Minister.
Her legal submission, published exclusively in the Sunday Express by journalist Dr Sheila Rampersad, counters Smith’s attempts to distance himself from the matter over the past two weeks. It also raises further questions about the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) given to Moreau.
Full Article : wired868.com
Another case of moving square pegs around. The same reult! Incompetence prevails in this administration. Mr Prime Minister you have to take a zero tolarance policy otherwise you will be a one term PM.
Observer: “Mr Prime Minister you have to take a zero tolerance policy otherwise you will be a one term PM.”
Rowley will be a one term Prime Minister, zero tolerance policy or not. The Nation cannot endure another five years of his non leadership.
And likewise, it cannot afford (literally) another five years of fiscal mismanagement under the UNC.
T&T is certainly caught between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.
It seems that Dr Rowley,have refused to show that authoritarian rule of leadership which is needed in these kinds of instances, it also shows the lack of leadership building within the present PNM. Mr Smith, have no right whatsoever to be part of this administration, senior or junior, his actions are what is wrong with Trinidad’ males in all aspects. Sexual intimidation in this modern epoch, is Taboo, especially coming from an individual holding office, where he/she can use their position to elicit and manipulate. Trinidad, is blessed with a beautiful feminine gender pool that’s being ravaged, because of the lack of respect by the likes of Mr Smith. The great books told us, “do not expose her to humiliation. In acting thus you will humiliate yourselves and lose the sentiment of LOVE, without which nothing exist”. Those who have not tried consciously to become better Men,very often decide to assert themselves through arrogance,disdain toward the representatives of the opposite SEX. Mr Smith, with his OBESE personality exhibits all that is totally wrong. Some of the great books also told us, “that a Man going to perfection has to supplement himself with Femininity- the best qualities that the best Women possess. A woman going to perfection has to supplement herself with Masculinity- the best qualities that the best Man possess. One thing that i have learnt in my incarnation, is, if a Woman really want you, the last thing you need to do is to harass her and put her in a position she does not feel comfortable being in, those situations usually don’t ever turn out right.
ditto Mr. Cooper..Ditto
Jearlean: He should repay $150,000 hush money
DEPUTY political leader of the United National Congress (UNC) Jearlean John said disgraced former Sports Minister and Minister in the Ministry of Housing Darryl Smith should be made to repay the $150,000 hush money, used to settle a case by his former dismissed personal secretary Carrie-Ann Moreau in a wrongful dismissal matter. The dismissal came after Moreau complained of being uncomfortable with things said to her by Smith.
Darryl will be back, this is a temporary setback. By now everyone should knows the PNM stick like glue and releases Le Couteaux demons of division into the UNC. Ever since September 2015 the PNM adopted a new mantra “blame Kamla”. 2 1\2 years later they have pillaged the treasury, taxed everything and the nation is spiralling down towards the abyss.
But back to sweet man lover boy Darryl, a true product of the PNM elitist macho man. Using tax payers dollars to clean your dirty ar∆e as big as it is, is morally and ethically wrong. Further Faris and Stewart stood up in parliament and said it have nothing to do with Darryl despite documents with Smith signature. A blatant lie. Darryl rose to preeminence when he took three female employees to Tobago and blasted away $92,000 in three days of wild orgies. It should have been code red for the Prime Minister.
The PNM has a history of using any means possible to clear their ministers. Who remembers Guy Smilie and the Dansook affair. Camille along with the Heliconia crew is working hard to rewrite the Smith narrative. It is just a matter of time before Big D rise like fat to the top in heated Vat. He will be back.
The cover-up and lies spouted in the Parliament by the AG of T&T, Mr. Faris Alwari with regard to the payment to the woman and the sexual harassment by Smith are probably more serious crimes than the actual sexual harassment allegations against Smith.