By Sue-Ann Wayow
PRIME Minister Dr Keith Rowley says he has been more accessible to the media than any other prime minister.
On Thursday, in a statement posted on the Office of the Prime Minister’s Facebook page, Dr Rowley stated, “It cannot be truthfully disputed that this Government has been more accessible to the media than most. There has been no Prime Minister who has consistently spent more hours before the local media fielding questions to the media’s exhaustion.”
Dr Rowley stated that state-owned TTT was just a small part of local media and every ministry and most public sector departments had separate communication units which were always open to the media.
“These being the undisputed facts, allegations of dictatorship and government restrictions are rejected,” he said.
He made these statements as the Opposition continued to lambast the Government for allowing media access to only TTT to cover the Venezuelan repatriation.
Maduro’s Pawns
In a press release also issued on Thursday, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said the latest remarks by the Minister of Communications Symon de Nobriga only raises more red flags.
“According to the Government, this repatriation exercise was entirely the work of the Maduro regime and the Trinidad and Tobago Government had no say in the matter. This is a shocking and damning admission that suggests the Rowley regime are simply pawns of Maduro,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar stated that the migrant crisis in Trinidad and Tobago was a matter of national importance and local media as well as citizens of Trinidad and Tobago had a right to be able to scrutinise the repatriation process and policy which was occurring on home soil.
Quoting from a Miami Herald article entitled“ As Venezuelans flee hunger Maduro tries to lure them home with free flights”, Persad-Bissessar said the question must be asked, “Were journalists banned from covering this repatriation exercise because the Rowley regime is conducting a joint propaganda campaign with Maduro?”
Persad-Bissessar also referred to the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT) statement that it was becoming customary for the Government to either ban or limit independent media from covering important news events.
She said, “A free and independent media is the bedrock of our democracy. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago must be under the control of its own citizens, not foreign dictatorships. Every day the Rowley regime looks more similar to the Maduro regime. If we do not defend our democracy, soon we won’t be able to tell either regime apart.”
