Devil in the details

THE EDITOR: The late prime minister Patrick Manning clearly warned us about the current Prime Minister. Dr Keith Rowley was quite animated in saying that the Law Association's judicial review would not cost him one cent but would cost the taxpayer millions of dollars in legal fees. He seemed quite concerned about this. However, he was not concerned that his government's unilateral cancellation of an almost $500 million housing contract with China Gezhouba Group International Engineering Co Ltd would also cost the taxpayer tens of millions of dollars. Amazing!

This is the same Dr Rowley who, in 2009, escaped the Landate project case, on a technicality, because the Integrity Commission did not follow the principles of natural justice. This is the same government that hiked pensions for its members, judges and other parliamentarians, in 2019, and whose pensions will be revised every five years.

In 2014, the pension for the Chief Justice moved from $50,350 to $93,223 tax free, per month. This year it was increased even further by adding a housing allowance of $28,000 per month. And while all this was happening, the Finance Minister has just avoided paying millions of dollars (legally) in stamp duties and income taxes, for his alleged property development on Picton Street. This same Finance Minister and the Prime Minister qualified for a government pension of $60,050 per month, in 2014. Heaven knows what it is after their allowances were added this year.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General collected over $150 million in rental fees for a building in Port of Spain, over the last 10 years. Both the PNM and PP were complicit in this. This week, we also had the Minister of Communication Stuart Young lamenting that social media is the biggest threat to democracy. I do not know if he is a smoker. However, the PNM, with its stated intention to wield the Sedition Act, is the current, biggest threat to democracy in TT.

I hope that the OWTU can make the refinery a success. However, the more I learn about this "deal", the more alarmed I get. Is it true that the government has mortgaged all of Petrotrin's assets, including the refinery? Is this the reason why Patriotic was given a three-year moratorium on payments?

As the old people would say: "The devil is in the details."

LINUS F DIDIER

Mt Hope