Renuka Singh
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says he has been "abused" and threatened" after former transport minister Devant Maharaj shared Rowley's cellphone number on social media.
Maharaj posted Rowley's private cell number on WhatsApp and Facebook and encouraged people to call the Prime Minister about the sea-bridge problems. He also shared a story from a distraught mother, who said she messaged Rowley about her daughter's murder but was blocked by the Prime Minister.
In a media statement yesterday Rowley said he was now forced to change his cell number.
Rowley said after Maharaj shared his number and incited people to call him, he was subjected "not only to abuse but of threatening behaviour which warranted the involvement of the Commissioner of Police".
Rowley called Maharaj a "low life" and described his actions as "reckless and dangerous behaviour".
"This being the times in which we live and the technology available to the lowlifes like Mr Maharaj I have no choice but to access and use another number which you will become familiar with in the normal decent way," he said.
He said that since Friday, December 7, 2018, Maharaj "obtained" that cell number and "maliciously published it".
"Further he has encouraged and incited persons to harass and threaten me," Rowley said.
Rowley said that given the state of the country, enough "unfortunates" could be misguided by Maharaj
"As a result of this act of gross misconduct and in my desire to serve you in a sane and sober manner I regret that I will be discontinuing the use of the number that you might have known and used at some time in the past," Rowley said.
He said he was "saddened" to change the number he has had for years.
"I always felt connected to you just as an ordinary citizen whose phone number was widely known and available to the responsible public," he said.
"For very many years, I have maintained the same telephone number. Upon assuming office, I continued to keep that same number and used it effectively for private and public business. Very many of you members of the public have used that number, appropriately, in your moments of need or simply to wish me well on a daily basis," Rowley said in a media statement yesterday.
"I trust that our country never becomes so barren that there is an absence of leadership in all quarters, especially the political arena, where rogue elements who try to drag us down to their base levels can be roundly condemned. I so do," he said.
Griffith: Police investigating
Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith yesterday confirmed that he received a report from Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley about several messages on his cell phone.
"I have received a report of a matter whereby someone acquired access to the telephone number of the PM and sent several messages, which warrants the police investigating the matter," Griffith said.
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''Devant irresponsible, destructive'
"Irresponsible, deplorable and destructive".
Former minister of transport Devant Maharaj has once again been chastised by the Government, this time for sharing the PM's cell phone number and encouraging people to call him to complain about the failure of the inter-island ferry.
In a media release yesterday Communications Minister Stuart Young said Maharaj was inciting people to use the PM's number to "harass" him.
Over the past two days, Maharaj began by sharing the story of a heartbroken mother, 35-year old Akins James whose daughter's body was found on November 18, 2018, at Santa Barbara Boulevard, Upper Santa Cruz.
According to James' Facebook post, she contacted the Prime Minister seeking justice for her 19-year old daughter Amy Leslie James.
She said he never responded and then blocked her on WhatsApp.
Yesterday Young condemned Maharaj for sharing Rowley's number.
Young said that Maharaj "has once again engaged in irresponsible, deplorable and destructive behaviour designed to destabilise the good governance of Trinidad and Tobago".
Young said that the publication of Rowley's number by Maharaj was "all-time low and worthy of criminal investigation".
"He has continued inciting people to use the Prime Minister’s information to, at a minimum, harass the Prime Minister and at a maximum, expose him to harm," he said.
Young linked Maharaj to the United National Congress (UNC) and said he was engaging in "despicable and dangerous behaviour for some time now".
"I consider his recent actions to be dangerous and a clear indication of the Opposition’s desperation and confirmatory of the type of destructive actions that they, and in particular he, engages in," Young said.
"It is plainly wrong and even dangerous to circulate, publicly, the private information of any citizen, and that includes public officers," he said.
Devant: What makes Rowley so special?
But Maharaj does not think he has done anything wrong.
"As a public figure, you no longer can claim privacy. I as the minister had people calling me when buses were late...I never whined or moaned about it. It comes with the job. Even today as I get calls at home or on my cell or people just showing up at my home for help or advice. This is without me being a member of Parliament or Senate or UNC Executive," he said.
"What makes Rowley so special? When you offer yourself to be a representative of the public, it can't only be in the convenient office hours or telephone contacts. I know that (former prime minister) Kamla (Persad-Bissessar) and many other opposition MPs are equally accessible," he said.
Maharaj said he was "moved" to release Rowley's number given the failures of the Galleons Passage.
"Now it is breaking down at sea putting nationals' lives at risk," he said.
"Also the plea of Ms Akin James demand that the State intervenes to ensure that this poor lady gets justice for the rape of her daughter," Maharaj said.
Maharaj also denied that he is guilty of sedition in the sharing of Rowley's number.
"Regarding the sedition issue, I have my attorneys looking at this never-ending threat by the Rowley administration against citizens," Maharaj said.
"I want to challenge the archaic law that has already been struck down in the United Kingdom by the Privy Council as unconstitutional," he said.
Maharaj said he was not sure if anyone even tried to contact Rowley.
James: PM blocked me
Akin James, in a telephone interview yesterday, said it was not Maharaj who gave her Rowley's number.
She said she got his number from a friend and tried to contact him seeking justice for her daughter.
James, in a brief interview yesterday, described a cycle of poverty and sexual abuse that ended in the unsolved death of her 19-year-old daughter, Amy Leslie James.
The body of the younger James was found in an advanced state of decomposition on November 18, 2018, in Santa Cruz.
"She wasn't perfect, and we were poor, I had her when I was about 15 or 16," James said.
She said two male relatives raped her daughter at different times and both times a report was made to the police.
"Nothing came of it. When you poor and uneducated, nobody does anything for you," she said.
"But this is my child, and somebody kill she and I have to get justice for her," James said.
She said that two male relatives were held for the sexual attack on her daughter. One incident occurred when the daughter was eight, and another attack happened when the daughter was 9.
"Rape for some reason is a bailable offence in this country. Don't ask me why, cause is we that does have to live with what happened to us," she said.
James said the rape case was only now before the courts.
"Somebody kill her to keep her quiet," James said.
"Police say that the victim is dead so the case is dead and I feel that in my belly. This is my child and they telling me that nothing going to happen to the people who rape her when she was young and kill her now?
"People saying I crazy and I should leave this alone...but I am a mother, and I need justice," she said.
James' daughter was reported missing two weeks before hunters discovered her body. Officers who responded said the body was found in a crouched position with a plastic bag over the head. Female clothing was found nearby.