Rowley slams Kamla for silence on former minister's claims of UNC involvement in human trafficking

The Prime Minister has taking aim at Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar for her silence on remarks made by a former member of her People's Partnership administration about allegations that UNC members are involved in of human trafficking.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Dr Rowley, opened with the word, "pathetic", before noting Persad-Bissessar had not responded for former PP minister Devant Maharaj, who on Saturday corroborated the Prime Minister's allusion that the "senior government ministers" referred to in a 2022 US report on human trafficking were UNC MPs.

"I notice Opposition Leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar has steered clear of the very serious personal experience of a former Minister of her Cabinet who spoke out about what he knows and what he knows that she knew.

"She did do something about persons involved. She elevated them to become (not councillor, where they were aspiring) but to the Parliament," Rowley wrote.

"In case she doesn’t know it is quite normal for reports to view all Parliamentarians as “senior government officials” since unlike the UNC they view all members of Parliament as part of the government, unlike councillors etc."

In a statement on Saturday, Maharaj said he was one of several senior UNC officials who investigated allegations of human trafficking during 2010-2015 during the PP's term, and that the allegations "were true and correct."

He claimed senior UNC officials provided "a regular supply of Venezuelan and Colombian prostitutes to persons within and without the party."

In Parliament on Friday, Rowley, in response to UNC MP Rodney Charles's question about the US report on human trafficking which placed TT on a Tier 2 watch list said his administration had about the allegations and did an investigation which revealed no government MP was implicated suggesting that it was Opposition members.

Persad-Bissessar, in a statement on Saturday, hit back noting the report stated that the government had not taken any action on the claims, and that, in fact, the government would have done so, if a UNC official was involved, saying the Prime Minister was trying to score political points.

The Prime Minister, in his post, also accused Persad-Bissessar of slander over past claims of PNM officials' being linked several reports of abuses in children's homes. He also referred to rape allegations made in Parliament by former PP minister Vernella Alleyne-Toppin.

"...since the Opposition Leader shamelessly invokes and accuses her Parliamentary colleagues of covering up the crime of paedophilia can she point to any person, situation or shred of evidence to support her disgraceful slander.

"Then again, nobody should be surprised by her behaviour here. This is her horrible character at work. This is the same grab bag from which she produced Vernella Alleyne-Toppin, eight years ago, to defile our Parliament with baseless rape charges against member and non member.

"Today, she, the author of that outrage, is talking about hiding behind Parliamentary privilege?"