Charles bets Hinds $100 he can't walk through Beetham unguarded

NAPARIMA MP Rodney Charles promised to pay National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds $100 in cash, if Hinds goes walking into Beetham Gardens without any bodyguards, over the next three days, to talk to residents about the nasty problems in the community caused by a leaking sewer line. Hinds is Laventille West MP and Beetham Gardens falls within his constituency.

Charles waved a $100 note in his right hand as he made this bet during a news conference at the Opposition Leader's Office in Port of Spain on Sunday.

Referring to a sinkhole in Beetham Gardens caused by the leaking sewer, Charles said it was wrong for Hinds to subject residents to "the pernicious scent of raw sewage for six months." He accused Hinds of failing in his duty as MP.

"If he name man, go into Beetham over the next three days. Do that without any accompanying security," Charles dared.

He called on Hinds to meet with residents within 72 hours (three days) to assure them the problem will be resolved. He reached into his wallet and pulled out the cash.

"I will pay him $100 solid, liquid cash, for losing a bet. We have a bet."

Back in August 2018, Hinds and a PNM councillor were splashed with dirty water when they toured flood-hit areas in Beetham Gardens. The two had to run off when residents threw a bucket of water at them.

Speaking later on the incident, according to a Newsday report on August 19, 2020, Hinds said: “God knows what was in that water. I had to run away.”

Charles, the Naparima MP, claimed the problems in Beetham Gardens and in Sahai Trace in his constituency showed the PNM has pre-collapsed in office.

"It (PNM) is in (Health Minister Terrence) Deyalsingh's ICU (intensive care unit)." Referring to the decision last week to allow open-air cremations of covid19-deceased people, Charles alleged the ban had punished members of the Hindu community for no reason.

He also claimed the PNM's 14-1 defeat in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) on December 6, 2021 had destroyed the party's interest in governing Trinidad and Tobago. After saying the PNM was only serving it's financiers and the "wishes of the one per cent", Charles called on Government to resign immediately and beg forgiveness from the population for its sins.