Congress of the People (COP) leader Prakash Ramadhar has dismissed calls for Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to fire Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, saying they are coming from people who want to bring the Government down.The calls came after Ramlogan, on the campaign trail, furnished documents which contradicted claims by Independent Liberal Party (ILP) deputy leader Anna Deonarine that she did not import a Range Rover, which was allegedly stolen and shipped to Trinidad.
Ramlogan also produced documents showing Deonarine made a $3 million deposit in Clico after a land deal made by her mother.The calls for Ramlogan's removal as AG came from sacked justice minister Herbert Volney, Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley and ILP interim leader Jack Warner, among others.
The COP, one of the parties in the coalition government, is contesting the local government elections as a separate entity but Ramadhar yesterday threw his support behind Ramlogan in the Deonarine affair."It's election time and there are those who wish to bring the Government down. They know who they are and the calls are coming from those quarters," Ramadhar told the T&T Guardian at the opening of a welcome arch on the Eastern Main Road in his constituency in Tunapuna.
He added, "The country needs a sober reflection on issues, not hype. Truth, not propaganda."Asked to comment on criticisms coming from similar quarters of the UNC's selection of former popular Crime Watch television show host Ian Alleyne as its candidate in the St Joseph by-election, the COP leader said, "The UNC chose Ian and it's now up to him and his campaign to convince the constituents and show what he intends to do for them."
During his address to residents gathered for the unveiling ceremony, Ramadhar said Tunapuna–a marginal seat where 250,000 people, a mix of different ethnic groups, reside–decided the future of governance in the country.He said if a political party won Tunapuna, it was a signal for victory.The Tunapuna Regional Corporation is held by the Government.
Asked how he felt the COP– which is contesting it–would fare in the elections on Monday, Ramadhar replied, "We feel quite optimistic, if this regional corporation is to be judged by the work done.Outgoing chairman Khadijah Ameen, during an address, said the green welcome arch in Macoya in front of the Turban building, similar to one in St James, was one of the more significant projects done by the corporation.
She did not mention the cost during her speech and when the T&T Guardian asked her, she asked someone else, then said, "It cost either $465,000 or $485,000."Ameen said the welcome arch, which carries a steelpan on one side and a tassa drum on the other, is part of a bigger $1 million development plan for Tunapuna, which includes solar-powered streetlighting and standardised business frontages.