PM, Deyalsingh slam UNC 'lies' on field hospitals

THE Prime Minister and Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh on Wednesday condemned boasts from the Opposition UNC that the United States government sent field hospitals to Trinidad and Tobago because party leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar made the request for them at a UNC virtual meeting on Monday.

In a post on his Facebook page, Dr Rowley declared, "Shameless liars.

"Attempting to take political credit for Government work that had nothing to do with them! How can anyone ever trust these people."

Deyalsingh reinforced Rowley's condemnation, in a separate statement of his own

Deyalsingh said the generous, and appreciated, donation of two field hospitals had absolutely nothing to do with Persad-Bissessar's utterances on Monday.

He explained, "The two field hospitals that were generously donated by the US Government are the result of an agreement dating back to September 2020 when the Ministry of National Security agreed to accept these field hospitals from the US."

Deyalsingh said the field hospitals arrived in TT "a couple of weeks ago and the assembly of the first field hospital commenced on Monday May 10 , 2021." He said both would be assembled and operational by the end of this week.

He said the latest UNC boasts are similar to Persad-Bissessar's taking credit for India donating covid19 vaccines to TT, when this was not true.

Deyalsingh said once again Persad-Bissessar and the UNC "attempting to negatively impact this country’s relationship with an ally sovereign country." He said the Government rejects the continued, desperate attempts by Persad-Bissessar and the UNC to mislead the population.

He also told the population the Government will continue to work with its international allies during the covid19 pandemic and "remain committed to taking decisions to protect our population."