PM blasts UNC over bail bill

The Opposition Leader’s refusal to support the denial of bail for people caught with machine guns as “dangerous” to the people of TT, says the Prime Minister.

Dr Rowley took UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to task for that statement, which she made at a public meeting at Sangre Grande on Monday night.

He was addressing an indoor public meeting at the Siparia market auditorium on Tuesday night,

“I could tell you for a fact that when she was PM, she proposed that persons with handguns should be denied bail," he told supporters.

He said Persad-Bissessar's suggestion was made when the handgun was the weapon of choice by the criminal element, who were using them to commit murders, robberies and other violent crime.

“The normal handgun might carry between six and 15 bullets, and will take a while to be fired, and they easily manipulated," he said. "Because the PNM is now saying that our criminals have moved from handgun to Mac 10 machine pistols, to assault weapons now, AR 15s, and they killing us like flies...anyone who finds him or herself in possession of one of these machine guns should be denied bail.”

He said police had recently apprehended two people, one with eightAR-15s and other with five, who were granted bail during their court appearance.

“This is the weapon of choice in other countries, where people would take this weapon and go into a school and mow down people. What are we waiting for – until they do it in TT, to make it unbailable?"

Rowley charged, "This opposition is dangerous to the people of TT.”

He said the matter was due for debate in Wednesday’s parliamentary sitting.

On the December 2 local government elections, he urged supporters to come out and vote.

He made a promise to the local crowd: “The next borough will be the borough of Siparia. As soon as legislation is passed, we will make the next borough the borough of Siparia.”

Rowley then took a swipe at one ofTT’s newest political parties, Louis Lee Sing's Port of Spain People’s Movement, saying it had been created with the sole purpose of opposing the PNM.

“Do you know how many parties have formed, resurrect and die and the only thing they good for is to badtalk the PM?”

Rowley said he went against advice and appointed Lee Sing PoS mayor and noted that a highlight of his tenure was creating a "highway" in St James where people could not cross the street without the possibility of being knocked down. This was a reference to Lee Sing's short-lived 2015 scheme to ease traffic congestion in the city.

“The councillors in the corporation wereso upset, he wrote a letter to the PNM and gave it to the UNC to read in Parliament. They wanted me to fire him. He now in PoS and his entire agenda for that party is to badtalk the PNM. His party based on latrine.”

Lee Sing also worked as mayor to reduce the number of latrines used by residents of PoS.

Rowley also addressed the issue of lands owned by Works Minister Rohan Sinanan and Persad-Bissessar's call for an investigation as to why a bridge had been built on that land.

“I am not defending anyonem but that level of stupidity has to be addressed.

"Which ministry builds bridges?

"She said someone build a bridge on basis that land belongs to Sinanan. 'It's because Sinanan own the land, the bridge is built.' You ever heard more stupidness?”

He said Persad-Bissessar never asked whether the bridge was built to connect the roadway.

On the UNC’s challenge of the EBC or to the spelling of its CEO’s name, he said, “I want to give her advance notice. Whether it is Cuffie or Cuffy – you have one licking to get.”