By Chantalé Fletecher
THE United National Congress (UNC) is doomed to fail.
Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh said so in response to a no-confidence motion brought against him in the Lower House on Friday by the Opposition.
The motion was filed by Caroni East MP Dr Rishad Seecharan.
The St Joseph MP said, “This is the fourth no-motion of confidence the UNC has brought against a PNM minister, and it is doomed to fail like the (ones against) late great Franklin Khan, Minister Colm Imbert and Minister Stuart Young.
“That was the most powderpuff, anemic, insipid motion I have ever heard in my entire life. If that’s it, let’s go home now; if that’s the best the UNC can do today.”
Deyalsingh said UNC has a way of perpetuating the big untruth, say something that was false enough and long enough and people will believe it.
Deyalsingh said, “They have consistently misquoted (the Head of the World Health Organization) Dr Tedros (Ghebreyesus)
when he said, ‘Test, test, test.’ They never go on to the second paragraph of that speech when he says, ‘Test, test, test every suspected case of Covid, isolate and contract trace.’”
He added, “We were never against private labs but we standardising them against Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA).
The minister said, “What we were guiding the private labs to do in the initial stages, was to ensure they were technically proficient because in the early days, they were getting a high percentage of false negative tests.
“A false negative test is the most dangerous thing you can have, but the UNC doesn’t care about truth.”
He said, “A study of Abbott’s rapid antigen tests may miss two-thirds of asymptomatic cases.”
Deyalsingh asked the Opposition, “Do you do your research? That is the kit you want here to miss two-thirds of asymptomatic cases, is that the UNC’s position.”
He added, “We are using our rapid antigen tests in all accident and emergency departments on both islands, in pre-ops.
“We are using them for dialysis where 1,000 persons are on dialysis and we are using them in the community for severe acute respiratory infections which is later confirmed with a PCR.”
Deyalsingh said “They are not in a warehouse.”
He said, “Covid-19 is a pandemic of biblical proportions. This pandemic is once in a hundred-year activity.”
He expressed condolences to the families of the 3.9 million persons who have lost their lives due to the virus, but explained that 3.9 million deaths was three times the size of Trinidad and Tobago.
“Every life, every industry and every country, over 220 countries and conveniences have come down with Covid,” he said.
Referring to T&T’s Covid response, Deyalsingh said, “We took 220 individual measures from January 29, 2020 when we started thermal screening up to June 19, 2021 all in an effort to save lives.”
He said, “We have always believed in science and evidence but the UNC litigated everything at every turn. They never sided with the population of T&T.
“They sided with the virus, they litigated with the scores of cases, hundreds of cases and that’s their track record in Covid-19.”
The minister spoke highly about his Covid-19 response team and their credentials.
Deyalsingh said the Opposition bullied the medical team who he referred to as ‘soft targets,” as under the Code of Conduct for Civil Service Regulations they can be punished for showing political bias.
He said, “They must always be impartial, implement administer or advice on government policy as public officers.”
Deyalsingh said, “If this is about me, then I take full responsibility for the medical team assembled.”
