Kamla attacks Govt’s covid19 response

Leader of the Opposition Kamla Persad-Bissessar said Government has appointed three of the most incompetent ministers in the history of the PNM as spokespersons during the covid19 crisis. She said they had lulled the people of TT into a treacherous sense of false security over the risk of contracting covid19.

In a release, Persad-Bissessar said the ministers include Stuart Young, “who has failed at every single task in the crucial area of National Security he oversees, and Camille Robinson-Regis, whose very credibility is seriously compromised by her chequered financial past. Meanwhile, Terrence Deyalsingh is a complete and utter failure, whose term as Health Minister has plunged this country into the worst health sector crisis in our modern history.”

Persad-Bissessar said the three ministers, along with the Prime Minister, have abused taxpayers’ dollars by converting health news conferences into political pulpits and continue to spew a daily diatribe of propaganda, dehumanisation and demonisation of the media, the Opposition and citizens who were caught abroad, and were pitting citizens against each other.

She said people had now begun to die because of Government’s “cover-up policy” and state-sanctioned hatemongering of citizens. She said she would continue to inform and educate the population of the Government’s “cover-up, lies and stifling of democracy,” and refuses to be bullied and silenced by the PNM.

Persad-Bissessar urged citizens to ignore the vile example of the Government and maintain TT’s long-cherished values of humanity and tolerance at this difficult and uncertain time.

In an earlier release, the Opposition Leader said she was pleased that the Prime Minister had heeded her call for a 14-day shutdown of the non-essential services of TT.

Dr Rowley made the announcement during Thursday’s post-Cabinet media briefing.

She said Rowley had no choice but to take her advice after she announced the first covid19 death on Wednesday. Persad-Bissessar called on Deyalsingh to say why only 400 covid19 tests had been carried out in the past month and to explain, along with his Cabinet colleagues, why they chose to suppress the news of the first covid19 death.

She called on Government to properly inform all citizens as to all the details of the “shutdown initiative,” as failure to inform them of the new measures could lead to them unwittingly violating the law.

She also asked for an increase in police patrols in all areas to ensure the safety of citizens’ private properties and businesses during the lockdown period.

Persad-Bissessar said the PNM ministers were unprepared to deal with the coronavirus crisis in TT from the outset, as they blatantly refused the UNC’s efforts in Parliament to have the matter discussed as one of urgent public importance on three occasions since January 2020.

She said the ministers and Prime Minister had conscientiously ignored the numerous travel restrictions and warnings, and chose to engage in foreign travel during the period of the global spread of covid19, and Rowley further refused to self-quarantine for the mandatory 14-day period upon returning to Trinidad.

The Opposition Leader urged all citizens to heed all precautions and legislative measures implemented by the state to avoid contracting and spreading covid19, including staying at home, respecting the quarantine and new restrictions on movement and safeguarding their health and that of their families.