Ramadhar backs Kamla: Oreo remark not racist

ST AUGUSTINE MP Prakash Ramadhar yesterday came to the defense of Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar after calls for her to apologise for calling Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley an oreo.

Ramadhar said it was not intended as a racist attack, and said there were much more pressing issues to engage the public’s focus.

In a release, Ramadhar said prominent figures in the Afro-Trinidadian community, like Khafra Kambon and David Muhammad, have dismissed allegations of racism. He said in his 35 years’ professional experience with Persad-Bissessar, he did not know of any instance where she expressed racist or biased sentiments, and said the public ought to pay closer attention to more prominent issues of healthcare and food security.

“I knew her as a student, as a colleague in the law, in the political arena, in the Cabinet of TT, as its prime minister, and onwards.

“I have never witnessed an act or utterance by her which I consider racist in nature.

“Enough talk of sweet biscuits, of cookies with cream. Let us now look after the future of sweet TT. We all deserve better.”