Chairman of the United National Congress Jack Warner has condemned the actions of a group of protesting farmers on Wednesday after they came to a face-to-face encounter with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. He called for the leadership arm of the group to issue and apology and for the thuggery to cease. Warner said the farmers "stooped to an all-time low in deriding our beloved Prime Minister, the Honourable Kamla Persad-Bissessar."
In a statement, Warner, who is also the Minister of Works and Transport, said the unprovoked behaviour disregarded the empathy shown towards the group by Persad-Bissessar and reflected their lack of reason in seeing the broader picture. Persad-Bissessar was making her exit from the Housing Development Corporation building on George Street, Port-of-Spain, after distributing keys to new homeowners when the protesting group heightened their chants and encircled her. "Their attempts to block the Prime Minister manifest the type of hooliganism that is resident within the group," Warner said.
"They have the right to protest, but the decorum and the respect to which we have grown accustomed to are no longer among us, especially when this type of hooliganism is directed at a leader seeking justice and equality for all," Warner said. He added the group received instruments for removal on State lands and yet resisted the law. Warner said the farmers' presence on State land was at the mercy of the Government, and under no circumstances the leader of the country would be bullied and harassed.