PM: 'Ignore Kamla's insincerity over Caricom'

THE Prime Minister has urged Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caricom region to ignore what he says is Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar's insincerity about Caricom's relevance after 50 years of existence.

Persad-Bissessar questioned the effectiveness of Caricom in dealing with certain issues.

In a statement on July 8, Persad-Bissessar identified election observers, the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) and food security among those issues.

In a Facebook post, Dr Rowley said, "My advice to TT and the region is to please ignore her insincerity and let’s press on to another 50 years of progress led by those who believe in the boundless faith in our destiny as a country and as a united and ever more effective Caricom."

Rowley observed that Persad-Bissessar's comments came after the end of last week's Caricom heads of government meeting in Port of Spain, where several important decisions were made.

One was to expand the CSME to allow all workers in the region the ability to work in different Caricom member states.

He recalled that the CSME was placed on the back burner in 2015 when Persad-Bissessar was prime minister.

Rowley said Persad-Bissessar was out of place to be questioning what Caricom was doing on the issue of food security.

"It is also to be noted that on the very day that ministers in TT are in the papers confirming that 70,000 lbs of high-quality rice seeds have arrived from Guyana and are being distributed to local farmers to plant about 3,000 acres of rice in Trinidad, the mischievous Opposition Leader is questioning what Caricom is doing about food supplies."