Different kind of arrival

AS she stood on a platform at Ste Madeline, celebrating Indian Arrival Day in TT, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar spoke of a plot to arrest one of the East Indian descendants, secretary general of the Maha Sabha, Satnarayan Maharaj.

"There is a plot and conspiracy to arrest and lock up Sat Maharaj for sedition.”

Addressing a gathering which included opposition MPs Dr Roodal Moonilal and Rodney Charles, Persad-Bissessar said, while she did not subscribe to everything Maharaj said, she did not think his utterances were bordering on sedition.

“Sedition means you are trying to overthrow a government. Of course, we don’t want this government, but we will use legal means so to do.”

She said someone told her in a jocular manner not to put anyone with the surname Ramlogan, Ramdeen or Ram in her Cabinet when she returns to office. This, in reference to the arrest of the former attorney general in her PP government Anand Ramlogan, former UNC Senator Gerald Ramdeen and UNC chairman of the Mayaro/Rio Claro Corporation Glen Ram, who are facing the courts on separate allegations of fraud.

“But it is a serious joke. This Government has done nothing in four years and all they want to do is lock up everybody. I can’t see what Mr Maharaj would say that would amount to some plot to arrest him and lock him up. If that day happens, I hope you would stand with him.”

She told the audience that the Usine Ste Madeleine venue where the sugar factory once stood formed a significant part of their ancestor’s heritage.

The Cedar Hill organising committee which hosted the celebration, re-enacted the arrival of the East Indians 174 years ago on the Fatel Razack on the Usine pond.

Persad-Bissessar said, “Today we remember those who came before us. They created a life for us so we can live together in peace and harmony. Some days are darker than others, but for them (ancestors) it was worse."

She boasted that the children of those ancestors now formed an integral part of the fabric of TT, having found a place in every sector of society: in the medical, legal, political, educational and law-enforcement professions.

Lauding the ancestors who arrived from every glorious continent to make up this cosmopolitan land, she said TT was today witnessing a different kind of arrival. That of the Venezuelan economic migrants fleeing their beleaguered country.

Noting their arrival by the hundreds since the amnesty was announced she said, “The Government clearly has no proper plan in place to deal with the Venezuelan issue.”

Referring to the 101 who were found in the forest, detained and later released, she said when National Security Minister Stuart Young was asked where they are now, he laughingly said he did not know.

“So when the thousands come will he know?”

“They have no proper plans in place.”

She advised Government to engage with the UN's refugee unit to put a proper plan in place for the registration process.

“We must treat people well, but we must also consider those who are in TT. We are a land of peoples who came from the greatest civilisations of the world. We are a great country because of that diversity and now we have this new influx of Venezuelans.”

She said she remained concerned because it was impacting on her own constituency of Siparia.

“So, Government get your act together. If not move out, ship out and go.”