During a visit to 12 Hindu mandirs in her constituency on Wednesday night, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar appealed to devotees to keep a close eye on their children. She was accompanied by Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal and his wife, Natasha, as they commemorated the celebration of Shivratri. Among the mandirs visited were the Ramai Trace Mandir and the Patiram Trace Hindu Temple, Penal. Hundreds of devotees waited for hours to perform puja (prayers) on a sacred Shiv lingum (stone) which was discovered to have spouted milk, since the days of indentureship by an indentured servant, called Nancoo.
Persad-Bissessar and Moonilal offered prayers at the lingum where they prayed for an end to crime. The Prime Minister later said evil was stalking the land and it was only when people began looking out for each other that crime would be minimised. "As we come together in prayers we are seeking to ask for the Lord to bless our land and the people of T&T and to remove the evil that is stalking the land in the form of crime and social ills," Persad-Bissessar said. She said she had visited the mandirs as an MP, minister, Opposition Leader and now as Prime Minister over a period of 24 years and has a special love in her heart for the people of Siparia.
She added: "I will never forget you and so my message to you is to keep a very close eye on your children. Never let your children out of your sight. "You have a sacred duty to your children and that is why God has blessed you by giving you a child." She said people must be vigilant around those to whom they entrusted the care of their children. She said: "They too must be vigilant at all times and so my message for you is to make sure we look out for each other and each other's children and prevent evil from overtaking them. "Everytime you see a child, you must keep watch on that child and keep protection on that child, until another adult can take over. "You cannot trust people around you because the duty is always yours. You never know when evil may hit your child." Moonilal said he also prayed for peace, blessing and prosperity for all of T&T as well as an end of social ills.