radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Youth Development Minister Foster Cummings says his family is still receiving counselling following recent attacks on social media stemming from allegations of financial impropriety made against him by the Opposition.
Speaking to reporters at the launch of the AMPLIFY programme at the National Energy Skills Centre in Couva yesterday, Cummings said while attacks were expected in politics, his family remains strong.
The minister has come under fire most recently for a $4 million deposit he made at a credit union, as well as three land transactions. However, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley defended him this week, saying he had provided evidence to prove his innocence.
Cummings yesterday said his family remains strong in the face of the Opposition attacks.
“We are a strong-knit family. My mother and father have strong personalities. Our family is traditionally an extended family, so we have significant family support coming through this. Once you have a strong family you can weather challenges,” he said.
Asked whether he had had dealings with the family business after he joined the Senate in 2015, Cummings said, “I have spoken at length on this previously. If you refer to my previous press conference, I have addressed this.”
However, he said he was heartened by the confidence the Prime Minister has shown in him.
“The Prime Minister deals with evidence. He is not one to deal with speculation and allegations and therefore, he has addressed that,” Cummings said.
He noted that cyberbullying is part of the course of politics.
“We deal with it as it comes and yes, we have been receiving counselling. It’s a family matter but yes.”
Concerning the AMPLIFY programme, Cummings said 100 music producers and arrangers will be trained in music production. He said this will assist in promoting T&T’s indigenous musical art forms.
“We expect, coming out of this cohort, we will get significant successes. Our young people require the training that this programme offers, so they have the opportunity to hone their skills. We will give opportunities to our young people to become skilled music producers/arrangers,” he said.
He noted that despite limited resources, the Government was undertaking a collaborative approach to provide opportunities for youths.
“Yes, while we do have limited resources, we will put those resources to best use so we can expand the programmes as well can afford,” he said.
Some of the training offered includes Musical Instrument Digital Interface Sequencing (MIDI) or Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), sequencing, chord construction, editing and mixing, system set-up and configuration, drum patterns and digital multi-track recorders.