SHARLENE RAMPERSAD
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says in the coming days, he will meet with this country’s Ministry of Health officials to discuss the full reopening of T&T’s operations, as there has been no-post Carnival spike in COVID-19 cases.
Speaking at a People’s National Movement (PNM) virtual public meeting in San Fernando Tuesday night, the Prime Minister said he has kept a close eye on the number of COVID cases reported since the Taste of Carnival events.
“And I will be minded to tell the country that I see no reason now not to open the country completely,” Rowley said.
“So within the next few days, I will meet with our health team and we will take decisions commiserate with the circumstances in Trinidad and Tobago and compare it to what is happening elsewhere,” he added.
However, Rowley said T&T must be cautious, as he said a number of countries have reported massive outbreaks of the virus in the recent weeks.
“We have to be mindful but we can be a whole lot more operational, our economy has come through a very difficult period but we expect there will be some growth in our economy, those who are requiring Government assistance will get that assistance, those who can help themselves will be encouraged so to do, and we will strengthen our position going forward,” he said.
He urged citizens to ignore any detractors or those with “cocoa in the sun”, saying the country must be grateful for the success that has been coming its way.
He also expressed relief that students will be back in school in April.
The Prime Minister said during a recent visit to Qatar, he was told schools were never fully closed during the pandemic.
He said in that country, however, its citizens followed instructions and did as they were told during the pandemic.
“We are at the stage now where our children will be coming out to school in April and we trust that when that happens, I will be the first person to exhale when we get back to that situation where our children can go back to school. I find that so painful that they had not been able to go back to school for two years.”
The PM also addressed the March 16 Cabinet reshuffle, where Faris Al-Rawi was removed from his position as Attorney General and appointed as the Minister of Rural Development and Local Government.
Former agriculture minister Clarence Rambharat resigned earlier that day, prompting the reshuffle and bringing questions from the Opposition and citizens.
But the Prime Minister said Rambharat’s resignation was purely personal.
“The only reason why Senator Rambharat is not with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago today is because I stand with him and he stands with his family, that is the only reason and I tell them all, he hasn’t gone very far, because he still has time for Trinidad and Tobago and he still has time for the Government of Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.
“When I realised, having been told what he was dealing with, that he was leaving the Cabinet, I realised that was a blow to the administration of Trinidad and Tobago, but family called and family comes first, as mine does,” he added.
He thanked Rambharat for his service to the country.
Rowley said he looked on over the weekend as comments on the reshuffle poured in from all quarters.
“I was waiting for a sensible comment about how long this country has been waiting for local government reform for the last decade and we have finally come to the position where that is now the lever that the Government is holding to move the country and the improvement in the quality of life for the people of Trinidad and Tobago through local government reform which is in front of the Parliament,” he said.
However, he said he saw speculation about trouble in the PNM camp.
“Is all about trouble in the PNM, which PNM, this PNM? And about the Prime Minister’s position, which position? My position? This is not about me, this is not about the PNM,” he said.
He quoted from a PNM document that spoke about a principle developed in the European Union that involves taking decision making to the “lowest levels where it is practicable and competent for the decisions to be made.”
“It means decentralisation, devolution and giving real resources and greater responsibility to local government, something that we have talked about for 50 years in Trinidad and Tobago but which we have done little about. It means now, a greater role for municipalities and non-governmental organisations and it means like institutions like the Parliament must be made to pay a much greater role through reformed aggressive oversight in ensuring accountability and transparency and consequences,” the Prime Minister said.
‘Ex-commissioner a deranged imp’
Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and former police commissioner Gary Griffith both got a tongue lashing from the PM last night.
“The Commissioner of Police, who apparently will join us very soon, openly, in the political arena, made a statement that I as Prime Minister gave him $35 million to pursue Opposition MPs. As soon as he made that statement, a former prime minister is calling for me as Prime Minister to be charged for doing that,” he said.
Labelling the former commissioner as a “deranged imp”, the PM said the funds allocated to the TTPS to fight white-collar crime was actually $100 million.
He also presented figures from a report done on the Estate Management and Business Development Company Limited (EMBD). He said when the PNM took office in 2015, five contractors were claiming the EMBD owed them over $900million.
“We met contractors with certified claims, as good as cash according to them, because those certificates are normally as good as cash, $965 million of claims against this little company,” he said.
Rowley said an examination of the claims showed almost $1 million owed to a senior advisor to Persad-Bissessar while she was in the Office of the Prime Minister.
“It’s the only name I will call tonight, you all know Shem Baldeosingh, he was the advisor to the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago in the Prime Minister’s office, soon after he was brought here for favours done or not done, he became the senior advisor in the Prime Minister’s office, but he is here receiving from contractors in this billion-dollar largess $904,000, inside the office of the Prime Minister,” Rowley said.
He said the EMBD has managed to settle 13 claims against it for $43 million– some $593 less than what was being claimed.
“So had EMBD not fought this matter through strong legal fight, you, the taxpayers, would have had to pay those claims, those fraudulently certified claims of $593 million more, seven other litigation matters of a value of approximately $1 million were settled for $670,000,” he said.
Rowley said as of March 22, 2022, there were almost 30 outstanding claims against the company.
“The total is amounting to $3.77 billion ... So when they (Opposition) come and tell you about $35 million, it’s not $35 million, it’s $100 million,” he said.
“They are very boldfaced and you would think if you were a Prime Minister who led a team like that where half of your Cabinet is in the courthouse, you will keep yourself quiet but you out front calling for me to be charged because some deranged imp telling you that he was given money to pursue you, pursuing white-collar crime is an expensive process,” Rowley added.