Kamla tells PM: Put aside ego, talk to Ansa to get vaccines

OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has come to the defence of the ANSA McAL group of companies, which the Prime Minister accused of wanting tax exemptions in return for getting covid19 vaccines for this country.

Speaking at the United National Congress's (UNC) Virtual Report meeting on Monday night, Persad-Bissessar said that is not what happened.

She also accused Rowley of double standards explaining that he dubbed all the Caribbean prime ministers who asked India for a gift of vaccines “beggars,” yet he wrote to the US President “begging for vaccines” and to ANSA begging for money to fund vaccines Government had no money to pay for.

She called on Rowley to put aside his arrogance, ego and pride and talk to ANSA McAl to get the vaccines.

“Because that kind of arrogance will cost us. People would die.

"Today I am saying talk to ANSA McAL. They are not my friends. They might be your friends. I don’t know if after this they would still be your friends.”

She said the conglomerate wanted to carry out its corporate social responsibility.

"Let’s get the vaccines here. I am saying, would you beg to save the lives of your daughters? Would you beg to save the lives of your sons? I am begging on behalf of all the sons and daughters of TT.”

She read excerpts from a statement issued on Monday by group chairman Anthony N Sabga in which he contradicted statements Rowley made at last Thursday’s Conversations with the Prime Minister.

Persad-Bissessar said, “He was on national television and again lied about the private sector, saying they wanted tax breaks and all manner of things.That is not what happened.”

She said what Sabga said in his release, “is a slap in the face of the PM. They may not see it like that, but basically what this statement is saying is that he lying. They are too diplomatic to say he is a liar. I am not.”

On who made the initial approach to whom to secure the vaccines for the country, she said the private sector did not run to the government, but the government sought its help.

Sabga’s statement said that on February 17, the Ministry of Health asked business leaders to fund vaccines and public vaccination.

The next day, he said, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh and his top officials had a conference call with ANSA representatives, asking for a contribution to buy 351,000 vaccines Pfizer Inc, at a cost of US$8.4 million, which required confirmation of the order the very next day or the opportunity would be lost.

Acting on that request, Sabga said, ANSA held an emergency board meeting, and agreed to fund the entire cost of the doses for vaccinating the public.

The conglomerate asked for sufficient foreign exchange to be made available and for the contribution of all private-sector companies buying the vaccines to be credited against taxes payable for the income year 2021.

“You know, he (the PM) did not tell us that. He told us they wanted a tax exemption.”

She said the tax exemption meant ANSA would pay none of these taxes, but what in fact ANSA was asking, having paid taxes upfront, in recognition of the disruptions the pandemic would cause to government finances, was for the cost of the vaccines to be credited against taxes payable for income year 2021.

Learning later that the ministry had made the same request for help from energy companies, ANSA said that in a February 24 letter to Deyalsingh it renewed its offer to help if those companies could not raise the full amount.

Since then, Sabga said, the group told the ministry it had secured a million doses of another vaccine, of which it had intended to purchase 100,000 in the first instance. Of this amount it offered to provide 50 per cent to the Government for public use and reserve the remaining 50,000 for its employees and their families and for a consortium it planned to partner with which had also expressed interest in vaccinating its employees and their families.

Persad-Bissessar asked whether Deyalsingh and Rowley have conversations or whether the PM remembers those conversations.

She said if the deal Deyalsingh was making with the private sector had not been communicated to the Prime Minister, then Deyalsingh must be fired.