OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has accused Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley of presiding over a decade of decline and fleeing the consequences of his actions. This follows Rowley’s announcement of his impending resignation on March 16.
Persad-Bissessar criticised Rowley’s dealings with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, amidst pressure from US President Donald Trump’s administration, which is targeting the Maduro regime. She alleged that Rowley’s actions have jeopardised Trinidad and Tobago’s interests, particularly highlighting the recent controversial sale of the Petrotrin refinery.
She said, “Keith Rowley is ending his destructive near-decade-long tenure as Prime Minister with a legacy of woeful and deep-rooted failures that have precipitously diminished citizens’ quality of life.
“He is the only Prime Minister in our history who has not made a single tangible achievement during his tenure.
History will recall Rowley as presiding over an ever-worsening crime epidemic that cost thousands of innocent lives, a catastrophic public healthcare system, the collapse of the economy, grinding poverty, deteriorated physical infrastructure and overall national hardship. More than that, Rowley will be defined by his poor work ethic, caustic manner, unbounded ignorance, and partiality to blaming others for his ingrained incompetence.”
Persad-Bissessar made the comments in a release on Wednesday, after Dr Rowley he was stepping down from the prime ministerial role and handing over the reins to Energy Minister Stuart Young.
Accusing Rowley of leaving behind a legacy of economic decline and social issues, Persad-Bissessar claimed his tenure is marked by a crime epidemic, healthcare failures, and infrastructural decay. She also warned that Rowley’s successor, Minister Stuart Young, may face similar repercussions for his involvement in these Venezuelan dealings.
She said, “Don’t be fooled; Rowley’s retirement appears not to be about riding off into the sunset but about fleeing the mess he has landed himself in with his dealings with the dictatorial, kleptocratic, drug trafficking Maduro regime. His hand-picked successor, Minister Young, who worked as the facilitator of these deals, will soon face the same punitive fate as Rowley.
“Over the past ten years, Rowley and his ministers have failed to diversify the economy even as energy sector production steadily declined and idle industrial plants created a rust belt.
“They have taken T&T from being the region’s energy hub to now exporting scrap iron for forex.
