PM: 'PNM the only choice for future of TT'

WHILE he warned that other political parties promise the moon and stars to win election, the Prime Minister said in a year the public and private sector will be revolutionised through technology.

He spoke during a pre-recorded admonishing of the other 40 PNM candidates that was shown on Facebook and
TV on Friday night.

The showcasing of the candidates was recorded last Sunday at SoundForge, Christopher Samuel Drive, Port of Spain and rebroadcast on Friday evening.

Dr Rowley said in a year’s time the administrative system will be unrecognisable as the country moves to embrace more technology "as we change the public service and the private sector taking us forward under the leadership of TT that has boundless faith in TT.”

Rowley said TT is inextricably linked to the PNM and “if the country burns down, the PNM will be in the ashes.” That connection, he said, is what afforded him and his younger sister the chance of formal education.

He told the 40 candidates he was thankful that they were offering themselves as sacrificial lambs, adding that somewhere in the past, someone sacrificed for them to be where they are and now they must do likewise and sacrifice themselves for someone else’s children.

He told the listening audience that a vote for the PNM was a vote for the betterment of TT.

On his main opposition, the UNC, Rowley said the "giant" for the La Horquetta/Talparo constituency for the UNC, Jearlean John will be defeated by the David raised in the person of Foster Cummings.

To the candidates, both new and old, were given one promise “nothing but hard work. Hard work is for youth and people like me is to give you work.”

Rowley said the hopeful MPs should serve the people of the country. He told them that when he messaged them at 2 am he expects a response before sunrise, a jab at Fitzgerald Hinds, who was chastised for his tardy response to the Prime Minister in the past.

He told all that he was beholden to no man and had no "bagman" receiving money from contractors on his behalf to be subjected to police investigations. Rowley told the candidates to picture the covid19 response by his government and imagine what would have happened had the opposition been in power after it suggested a state of emergency should be called to deal with the pandemic.

Rowley was not the only one who referred to the government’s handling of covid19. First-timers Keith Scotland, for Port of Spain South, and Cummings used the Government’s response to the pandemic as methods to judge the PNM for re-election.

Scotland said since January officials at the airport had been doing temperature tests, suggesting that there was a plan to handle the virus long before the lockdown and health measures were put in place.

He said the country is now facing stormy waters and with that there is a need for a “good captain” in the person of Rowley.

Cummings asked the physically distancing crowd to imagine what it would have been like to fight covid19 under the Opposition, who he said wanted to infect the country by opening the borders, thanking sunlight for treating the disease, and allowing bars to be opened.

Chiming in as well was Barataria/San Juan candidate Jason Williams, who said the PNM was a staple of the country and the only party to keep the nation safe at this time.

Addressing his intended constituents, Scotland said there is a narrative that the PNM had lost its moorings and neglected them, but it was not so. But he also said if true, it must be addressed.

He also praised the Community Recovery Committee the PM established on July 2 to address issues facing Port of Spain South and other depressed areas.

“When I look at you I see people who want best for themselves and better for their family” Scotland told his intended constituents.

Tobago East candidate Ayanna Webster-Roy said the PNM nurtured TT and the Rowley Government had done more for women and children than any other. To support this she said under Rowley they did more with less finance which included issuing 10,000 child-rights booklets, establishing the Children’s Authority and the first state-run domestic violence safe house, and amending the Domestic Violence Act.

“We will always be the right choice for the most vulnerable in TT” she said as she highlighted that Tobago was given two new police stations, a new hospital, health centre and soon an indoor facility. She added that just as Trinidad has been developing, all of TT will grow under the PNM.