NEW YORK – New York based Caribbean Lifestyle TV (CLM TV) with host Clement Hume recently landed an exclusive one on one interview with Jamaica’s Prime Minister the Hon Bruce Golding at Jamaica House in Kingston.
Golding spoke candidly with Hume about issues of interest to the Jamaica Diaspora including the current economic climate in Jamaica; remittances; Jamaica’s plans to profit from the success in Beijing and Berlin and what to expect as Jamaica establishes a new borrowing relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“We are re-engaging with the IMF, largely because of the fallout that we have suffered because of the global recession. It has hurt us badly. The IMF doesn’t lend you money to fix roads and pay teachers; the IMF lends you money when you are not able to pay your bills to the rest of the world” Golding said.
Hume questioned the PM about the rush by the current administration to honor Usain Bolt with the Order of Jamaica just weeks after his world record run in Berlin. He asked the PM whether the title of OJ, though fitting, is the responsible thing to do at this time?
Golding defended his administration’s decision saying, “The Great Britain once had a Prime Minister who became PM when he was 23. Now if a white man can become PM of a country as great as Great Britain at 23, why can’t a Jamaican who has done so well, who has electrified the world, become the Honorable Usain Bolt, OJ at 23?”
The 45 minute interview with the Prime Minister will be broadcasted unedited on Caribbean Lifestyle TV/CIN TV, channel 73 in the tri-state area on Sunday October 4, 2009 at 11:30 AM EST.
CLM TV host Clement Hume (R) interviewing PM of Jamaica the Hon Bruce Golding. The interview took place at Jamaica House in Kingston.
While on the island, the US TV crew of Hume, Andrea Bullens and Anthony Turner also landed exclusive interviews with Mike Fennell president of the Commonwealth Games Federation and JAAA boss Howard Aris who was questioned about his organisation’s decision to ban key members of the Maximising Velocity Power (MVP) Track Club including Olympic 100 metres champion Shelly-Ann Fraser, former world 100 metres record-holder Asafa Powell, 400 metres runner Sherika Williams and sprint hurdler Brigitte Foster Hylton who reportedly failed to attend the mandatory pre-World Championships training camp in Nuremberg, Germany. The ban was later reversed and all four athletes won individual medals at the Games.
The ban by the JAAA and intervention by the IAAF exposed more of the bad blood that has existed between members of the MVP executive and the JAAA that came to light at last year’s Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
The CLM crew also spoke with Bruce James, President of MVP track Club, who in a revealing interview at the Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston, outlined and clarified misconceptions about MVP’s relationship with the JAAA.
“The JAAA did not give the athletes any information or documentation, this time around, saying the camp was mandatory. We felt (at MVP) that it was best for some our athletes to remain at their training base in Italy. Some of our younger athletes who we felt could do with the exposure of a JAAA’s camp took that opportunity” James said.
CIN TV head honcho Stephen Hill, who helped to coordinate the three day trip to Jamaica described the visit as a major success.
“This is a major coup for CIN, as this in-depth interview is the first that the Prime Minister has done for any T.V. channel in the USA. It is important for the large Caribbean Community in New York and the Tri-State to see their leaders up close and personal, and CIN TV provides the reach (18.9 million viewers) that makes this possible” Hill said.
Hume also highlighted the importance of the trip, saying this is the first of many more trips to the island to get first hand information from the source that will be broadcast to Caribbean viewers in the US.
“We are inundated each week with calls from persons in the ti-state area who are seeking to get answers to questions about what is happening in Jamaica and the role the Diaspora can play in resolving some of the issues” he noted.
