PM: 'Fake CMO' trying to ruin CPL

SOMEONE masquerading as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Roshan Parasram sent a bogus message to the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) organisers to try to cancel the upcoming tournament, the Prime Minister told a briefing at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s, on Monday.

The imposter had falsely claimed the government had changed the terms under which the tournament would be held in TT, Dr Rowley said.

He lamented that there were people in this country who were prepared to undermine the national effort so TT would fail, in line with their own ambitions and agenda.

"Would you believe that after Cabinet agreed to the terms and conditions under which the CPL would be allowed – the Minister of Sport spelt it out, I spelt it out and the CMO spoke about the involvement of the Ministry of Health – would you believe, some person here in TT appears to have impersonated the CMOs office and sent to the CPL's office contrary information, causing this whole matter to now be questioned as to whether the CPL would be held in TT."

He said the Minister of Sport has had to contact the CPL to confirm the tournament.

Earlier, Rowley said the re-entry of TT citizens abroad during the ongoing border lockdown was a separate issue from admitting people for the CPL in August as a revenue-earner.

“The responsibility of the Government of TT is to balance lives and livelihoods.”

He recalled the Government's first emphasis during the covid19 crisis was on lives, although the lockdown has had serious negative effects on livelihoods, which he now sought to help alleviate.

Rowley said now the CPL tournament and the lockdown were not mutually exclusive.

He related that throughout the covid19 crisis, the Government had committed $12 million a month to keep afloat the three state-owned hotels, namely the Hyatt, Hilton Trinidad and Magdalena in Tobago, and to preserve workers' jobs, while waiting out the virus.

Rowley boasted that TT was now sufficiently safe to host an international tournament, referring to Oxford University's assertion that TT was the most prepared country in the world to lift its lockdown in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) standards.