Le Hunte: UNC got advice to...Thief! Thief! Thief!

An uproar arose in the Senate yesterday during the budget contribution of Public Utilities Minister Robert Le Hunte who characterised the former People’s Partnership (PP) government as being advised by their advisers to “thief! thief! thief!”. This prompted an angry reaction from Opposition Senator Khadijah Ameen.

Also contributing to the debate earlier was former Central Bank governor Jwala Rambaran as a temporary Opposition senator whose tenure was also chided by Le Hunte. Le Hunte said while one Opposition senator had queried the Government’s economic advisers, the UNC had dubious advisers.

“At a time when oil-prices averaged US$100 per barrel we incurred expenditure that reached as high as $63 billion,” Le Hunte said, “The majority of which, as we are now seeing, was spent on financing over-priced projects and engaging in activities which were brought to the public’s attention by my colleague the Honourable Stuart Young.”

“During that critical period when the country had (squandered) a lot of money, all the advice that the particular government got was ‘spend, spend, spend and more spend, and thief, thief, thief!’”

Ameen rose to object that he was imputing improper motives citing Standing Order 46(6).

Senate President Christine Kangaloo responded, “If I’m not mistaken, the minister didn’t refer to anybody by name.”

Le Hunte continued, “There is a saying from Bob Marley, ‘Who the cap fits, let them wear it.’”

Looking in Rambaran’s direction, Le Hunte said, “It was clear to all and sundry, all over the world, where our economy was going. It only seemed to be in the last quarter of 2014 that we moved from 2.5 growth rate to one of a mere 0.2 percent in the last quarter. Not a word was said not an advice given by any of the advisers who are now coming into this chamber and speaking.

“Madam President, it appears some people have come with vindictive minds to settle scores and grievances.”

Kangaloo interjected to ask him to re-phrase his words and to be careful in making reference to other senators’ contributions. Le Hunte apologised as Government MPs grinned broadly.

He said, in 2015 then finance minister Larry Howai had been wrongly advised by “certain individuals” that the economy was not declining but expanding. While the Patrick Manning-led People’s National Movement administration had left office with $10 billion in the Treasury, he alleged this sum had been exhausted by the PP government, causing the present Government to have to borrow.

“If that wasn’t enough, the money was not only run out in the Central Bank under the stewardship of certain people who I will not call, at that point in time they had also raked the National Gas Company of close to $16 billion.” Ameen challenged him on the source of his figures, but Kangaloo allowed Le Hunte to continue. “The legacy of the last regime and the last governor was a total disruption and mashing up of a system that was nicely in place for a very long time, the effects of which we are still experiencing. We are trying to fix a problem that you created.”

Saying he was then a banker who valued confidentiality, Le Hunte said the actions of Rambaran as governor had made him cringe, apparently referring to the naming of companies who were the biggest users of foreign exchange.