PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar continues to work from home

MINISTER in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) Barry Padarath says a potential security risk at the Prime Minister's Official Residence and Diplomatic Centre in St Ann's is preventing Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar from using this venue as her office as an alternative to Whitehall in St Clair.

He made this comment to the media outside Persad-Bissessar's private residence in Phillipine, South Trinidad on May 7.

Members of the cabinet have daily been meeting with Persad-Bissessar at her home, to take instructions, after the presence of mould and a flooded basement at Whitehall – the Prime Minister's official office – led to that venue being deemed unfit for use.

On May 7, Padarath, parliamentary secretary in the Foreign and Caricom Affairs Ministry Nicholas Morris and Legal Affairs Minister Saddam Hosein visited Persad-Bissessar's residence to have meetings with her.

Crews of workmen were on site at the residence, engaged in construction and maintenance work which included erecting a fence close to the main house and jack-hammering different parts of the main driveway to the residence.

As they emerged from the residence, Padarath told reporters, "Well, we know why we are here. We are wondering why you are here."

He was briefly interrupted by the loud noise of the jack hammers before Morris signalled to the workers to stop.

Padarath told the media, "This is purely coincidental, we did not arrange for you and our team to meet out here this morning." He dismissed speculation about Persad-Bissessar being unable to work if she could not use Whitehall.

"The Prime Minister has been actively engaged in matters of state in terms of fleshing out schedules and so on for ministries and ministers."

He dismissed claims about government being dysfunctional because she was not working from Whitehall.

"The prime minister is working night and day in order to ensure that we have a proper functioning of the government in the immediate present."

On why the Prime Minister's Residence and Diplomatic Centre were not being used as an alternate location to Whitehall, as an office space for Persad-Bissessar, Padarath said, "The scanners and so on at the Prime Minister's residence are not working and the national security agencies have a major concern, because if scanners at the point of security is not functional at this time, then that supercedes all the other issues that I have traversed this morning as it relates to usage of the Diplomatic Centre and the Prime Minister's Residence."

Asked about no police officers or soldiers being on site at Persad-Bissessar's residence compared to the 2010-2015 period when she was prime minister, Padarath replied, "I would not want to traverse the issues of national security because there would have been an assessment and so on."

He said, "I would not want to put the prime minister's private residence at risk by going into those things.

Acting CoP: Sufficient security at PM's private residence

After a lack of a police presence was noticed by reporters, Newsday reached out to acting Commissioner of Police Junior Benjamin.

"There ought to be security there at the residence. Exactly where they are is a national security issue and I cannot divulge that. But just because you are not seeing security doesn't mean it doesn't have," Benjamin told Newsday.

He also said he had received no complaints from the head of the Special Branch of the police service on security arrangements at the prime minister's private residence.

"I am of the firm opinion that all is well and will continue to be. Anything relating to the PM and her (security) detail is very confidential," Benjamin said.

The Special Branch is primarily tasked with securing the physical safety of state officials including the Prime Minister, the President, government ministers etc.

On May 3, the PM was an hour late to the swearing-in ceremony for government ministers at President's House. The President's aide-de-camp informed guests gathered for the 4 pm ceremony that two accidents, a traffic build-up and bad weather had delayed the prime minister.

The PM's security detail comprises a lead police car, sometimes motorcycle outriders and Special Branch officers and other elite units.

Apart from security concerns, Padarath repeated there were other problems at the Prime Minister's residence in St Ann's.

"There is a sewer problem there. There is a moat around the facility." He said, "There has been poor maintenance of the facility itself."

Padarath added, "There were bedrooms of alcohol that was left behind there."

He recalled former prime minister Dr Rowley claiming to have found stocks of alcoholic beverages left at the residence at the end of the 2010-2015 tenure of the UNC-led People's Partnership coalition government.

Padarath said there were facilities for children "with hand prints all over the wall" and broken furniture. He said it will take some time for security and restorative works to be completed at the Prime Minister's Residence and Diplomatic Centre.

Efforts underway to find interim office

"It is a myriad of issues that has brought us to where we are today." Padarath showed reporters documents which he, Hosein and Morris had brought for Persad-Bissessar to review.

He repeated, "In the absence of a proper, conducive working environment, the prime minister has been on the job and we are trying to facilitate and make her life a little bit more easier by coming here, ensuring that matters of state, the operations continue without hinderance."

Padarath said the OPM's permanent secretary Natasha Barrow is working to find suitable interim office accommodations for Persad-Bissessar and her support staff while issues at Whitehall and the PM's Residence and Diplomatic Centre are addressed.

He stressed that Persad-Bissessar will not be working at home as prime minister. "This is not a permanent arrangement and this is an arrangement that was forced out of necessity. Once we get a facility that can be used and that is workable and functional, that transition will occur."

Referring to a statement by the Urban Development Corporation (Udecott) that it cost $32 million in 2019 to restore Whitehall, Padarath said there was no maintenance clause in that contract.

He rejected a claim by former public administration minister Allyson West that apart from issues with its basement, Whitehall was fit for use. Padarath claimed West agreed in her media statement that work needed to be done to improve facilities at Whitehall.

Padarath said he was advised that $5 million was approved by the former PNM government to do restorative work at Whitehall but that work has not started. He expects Persad-Bissessar and her cabinet to meet in person and not virtually.

When the media asked where the cabinet's first meeting would be held, Padarath said the media would be advised in due course. He disclosed that other government members have come to Persad-Bissessar's residence to meet with her.

"From time to time, we bounce up other colleagues here who are also engaged in a similar exercise. I'll tell you for free, I left here around 2 am this morning."

Padarath said Persad-Bissessar continues to engage with other regional and international stakeholders despite not having an official office to operate out of.

Asked whether officials from the Grenadian government had been in touch, Padarath said that question was best posed to Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal.

On May 3, Persad-Bissessar and Moonilal signalled government's intention to explore deals with the Dickon Mitchell-led Grenadian government to exploit that country's natural gas resources located in Grenada's maritime waters.

Hosein, who is also minister in the Agriculture Ministry, said he had some urgent matters from that ministry to brief Persad-Bissessar on. He declined to say what these matters were.