Tweet
'Just ask Omar'
JFF boss urges St James politicians to lift football
PAUL A REID, Observer West writer
Thursday, June 26, 2008
MONTEGO BAY, St James-
Jamaica Football Federation's (JFF) president Horace Burrell has charged St James' politicians to emulate their Kingston counterparts by helping local clubs develop proper facilities.
Urging Jamaica Labour Party members of parliament Dr Horace Chang, Clive Mullings and Ed Bartlett to ask former Minister of Finance, Dr Omar Davies, the chairman of Arnett Gardens club, to explain how he was able to transform the Tony Spalding complex into a quality facility, Burrell said partisan politics had no role in the game at this level.
"I believe that when you hold an office like this you should not be political," he said of his JFF office, "I think I need to say what needs to be said...I believe that facilities in Montego Bay and western Jamaica on a whole are lacking. I am talking about the clubs not having their own facilities or not getting the level of assistance that the other clubs in Kingston are used to getting."
Burrell, who was the guest speaker at Saturday's press launch of the Linkz FM pre-season schoolboys' 20/20 Football Fiesta at the Pelican Restaurant in Montego Bay, also charged the local clubs to stand up to their political representatives and demand better treatment.
"When I look at Arnett Gardens for instance: Dr (Omar) Davies, the former minister of finance who is the chairman of that club, and quite rightly so, he ensured by using his clout that Arnett Gardens has a first-class stadium...When you look at Tivoli Gardens, the Most Honourable Edward Seaga being the chairman has used his clout to get all that he was able to garner and the Railway Oval is in a fairly good condition.
What is happening in western Jamaica, where is the home for Wadadah, Wadadah, where is your home, Violet Kickers, where is your home, Seba United, where is your home?"
Having better facilities, he said, would not just enhance the quality of football here in the West but would also help in the reduction of crime.
"There are many warring factions here throughout the parish of St James and I believe that football can act as a catalyst to speed up the kind of unity that is necessary to bring all these various communities together and this is why I am hammering home the point."
The clubs, he said, would never be able to "by themselves find the amount of money that is necessary to build a football club house or to build a field that can properly allow you to train and play games, it is not possible, it is your political representatives and corporate citizens in the area who should come together."
JFF boss urges St James politicians to lift football
PAUL A REID, Observer West writer
Thursday, June 26, 2008
MONTEGO BAY, St James-
Jamaica Football Federation's (JFF) president Horace Burrell has charged St James' politicians to emulate their Kingston counterparts by helping local clubs develop proper facilities.
Urging Jamaica Labour Party members of parliament Dr Horace Chang, Clive Mullings and Ed Bartlett to ask former Minister of Finance, Dr Omar Davies, the chairman of Arnett Gardens club, to explain how he was able to transform the Tony Spalding complex into a quality facility, Burrell said partisan politics had no role in the game at this level.
"I believe that when you hold an office like this you should not be political," he said of his JFF office, "I think I need to say what needs to be said...I believe that facilities in Montego Bay and western Jamaica on a whole are lacking. I am talking about the clubs not having their own facilities or not getting the level of assistance that the other clubs in Kingston are used to getting."
Burrell, who was the guest speaker at Saturday's press launch of the Linkz FM pre-season schoolboys' 20/20 Football Fiesta at the Pelican Restaurant in Montego Bay, also charged the local clubs to stand up to their political representatives and demand better treatment.
"When I look at Arnett Gardens for instance: Dr (Omar) Davies, the former minister of finance who is the chairman of that club, and quite rightly so, he ensured by using his clout that Arnett Gardens has a first-class stadium...When you look at Tivoli Gardens, the Most Honourable Edward Seaga being the chairman has used his clout to get all that he was able to garner and the Railway Oval is in a fairly good condition.
What is happening in western Jamaica, where is the home for Wadadah, Wadadah, where is your home, Violet Kickers, where is your home, Seba United, where is your home?"
Having better facilities, he said, would not just enhance the quality of football here in the West but would also help in the reduction of crime.
"There are many warring factions here throughout the parish of St James and I believe that football can act as a catalyst to speed up the kind of unity that is necessary to bring all these various communities together and this is why I am hammering home the point."
The clubs, he said, would never be able to "by themselves find the amount of money that is necessary to build a football club house or to build a field that can properly allow you to train and play games, it is not possible, it is your political representatives and corporate citizens in the area who should come together."
Comment