Anil defends Anand in property matter

Sport Minister Anil Roberts has come out in defence of his colleague, Anand Ramlogan, over the purchase of two Maraval properties shortly after he assumed office as the Attorney General in 2010. Speaking to reporters outside the gates of the Prime Minister’s private residence at Phillipine on Sunday where a pre-budget meeting was held with party loyalists, Roberts said those who have criticised Ramlogan must realise that he was a successful attorney before he went into office. He said: “It is a very interesting phenomenon... I think we must understand the PP has a lot of people who were successful before politics. “I am only a minister for two-and-a- half years, but before that I was quite successful on TV, radio, newspapers, coaching, restaurant and I was also part of a legal firm that was quite successful. “The AG was also very successful so I would like to know why people talking so. I recently broke up with my longtime girlfriend and I might need to buy a house...right now I am living by my father. “I want the AG to negotiate for me because to get a house for $1.75 million in Maraval is good negotiations.”

 

Roberts commended the Guardian for breaking the story regarding Clause 34 of the Indictable Offences Act. He said: “This allowed the Prime Minister to immediately recall Parliament and deal with this situation. “Then she conducted her detailed investigations which was very sensitive and none of us in Cabinet was aware of what she was doing. “It involved discussions and gathering information from the Chief Justice and from the DPP as well as other ministers from the Inter-Ministerial Judicial Committee.” Roberts said by firing former justice minister Herbert Volney, Persad-Bissessar showed she was capable of putting good governance before politics. He also said there would be no early polls despite calls from the Opposition. “There will be no polls until whenever it is due, end of November or December 2015, so tell Rowley to cool himself because Rowley will not be facing the polls as the leader of the PNM,” Roberts said. He said people had more confidence in the Prime Minister since the Clause 34 fiasco. With regard to the 2012-13 budget, Roberts said more than 100 more sporting facilities would be upgraded throughout the country. He said coaches would be hired to train pupils in kindergarten, primary and secondary schools and that the aquatic centre would be built in Couva, along with a cycling velodrome.