Caption: Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles. Photo: T&T Parliament
By Alicia Chamely
HAVE you been winning and are you really feeling happy under the government?
This is the question being asked by Opposition Leader Penelope Beckles in response to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s statement that Trinidad and Tobago is a “Lawless Dump.”
In a statement on Saturday, Persad-Bissessar defended her government’s decision to implement a hefty increase on fines for traffic violations.
Persad-Bissessar stated the need to increase fines for traffic violations were necessary to restore order into a country that had become lawless.
She said, “The country has no order, it’s become a lawless dump, and it’s because of the entitled attitudes of some citizens who believe they can do whatever they want while inconveniencing others without consequences.”
Persad-Bissessar’s statement was not taken well by many, who believed labelling T&T own country a “lawless dump” was harmful not only to the psyche of the nation, but damaging to T&T’s international image, Beckles said.
Referencing excerpts from Persad-Bissessar’s inauguration speech, where she said, “we, as a nation and a people have been blessed with much” and “six months from today, under a new UNC government, you will be in a safer and happier place in Trinidad and Tobago,” Beckles questioned the shift in the prime minister’s tone towards T&T.
“I’ve been very disturbed by the honourable Prime Minister making reference to Trinidad and Tobago as a lawless dump. It is very interesting that the Prime Minister will say that her role as a newly elected Prime Minister is to love you and to do everything possible to make you and your loved ones happy,” she said.
Beckles added, “And I ask the people of Trinidad and Tobago, are you really feeling happy under this UNC government?”
She said, “You come into government, and during the budget debate, the Honourable Minister of Finance promise made, promise kept! Promise made, promise kept!”
Beckles added, “You go through all the promises and you see which promise has this government really kept? The honourable Prime Minister said to the public, no property taxes. The Minister of Finance said something else. The Minister of Finance said that they will actually be funding Trinidadians and Tobagonians who had already paid their property tax. I asked the people of Trinidad and Tobago, how many of you have received your refunds on the property tax?”
“Governance is now by bullying, governance is now by threatening. Governance is now by abusing the people of Trinidad and Tobago, and you must ask yourself if that is what you signed up for?” she asked.
Stating the Prime Minister and her government had found themselves in a position where they cannot keep up with their electoral promises, Beckles said, “You are now blaming the people of Trinidad and Tobago for your mismanagement, for your incompetence and for your inability to properly understand basic financing.”
“And what do you do now? You blame the people of Trinidad and Tobago; you are bullying the people of Trinidad and Tobago. You’re abusing the people of Trinidad and Tobago because you have found yourself in a predicament where you simply don’t know what to do, and you blame the people of Trinidad and Tobago.”
Beckles said, “I’m asking you, the people of Trinidad and Tobago, have you been winning?”
