Browne questions how UNC treats people

OPPOSITION Senator Dr Amery Browne has questioned the manner in which the UNC as a government treats certain people.

He raised this question during his contribution to debate on the Children's Life Fund (CLF) Amendment Bill 2025 in the Senate on June 13.

The bill was passed with amendments in the House of Representatives on June 13.

As he elaborated on an earlier question about the health minister being given the ability to determine which applications to the CLF Authority are approved or not, Browne questioned the attitude of the UNC towards certain unnamed medical professionals

He said some of these people were responsible for overseeing the administration and continuance of the CLF which the PNM inherited from the UNC when it assumed office on September 7, 2015.

Browne added some of those people "have taken this country through (a) devastating (covid19) pandemic"

He said those people demonstrated "impartiality and fairness and wisdom, every single day and every single week in office."

Browne added that had Health Minister Dr Lackram Bodoe been piloting the bill in the Senate he may have posed these questions to him.

Last month, Bodoe denied reports claiming Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Roshan Parasram was sent on leave until September.

"He had accumulated a period of (annual) leave for which he duly applied and his request was processed and approved which is in keeping with standard procedures.

"I just want to add that the role of the CMO really falls under the service commission and as such a public officer like this cannot be placed on leave arbitrarily and just to add, as to the standard procedure, an acting Chief Medical Officer has been appointed to ensure that there is continuity of operations."

Later in the sitting, Opposition Senator Faris Al-Rawi agreed with Browne's concern about the health minister being able to determine which applications to the CLF Authority (CLFA) are approved.

"We must insulate the minister from attack and clothing that minister with a review panel with a peer review system."

Al-Rawi said the CMO and other alternative options could be considered with respect to dealing with urgent applications to the CLFA instead of direct involvement by the minister.

During debate on the bill in the House on June 13, Port of Spain North/St Ann's West MP Stuart Young said the law states the powers of the CLFA board and a special unit in the authority that gives medical and financial assessments on applications the CLF for assistance.

Al-Rawi expanded on this point.

"We can establish two life units. One for review purposes if we did not want to be creating structures that are expensive and cumbersome administratively."

Opposition senators thumped their desks when Al-Rawi said such a move could "reduce the government's liability for negligence."