By Prior Beharry
PRIME Minster Dr Keith Rowley has launched a bizarre witchhunt on the Point Fortin Highway project which started 15 years ago.
This according to Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal in a release on Thursday, a day after the prime minister laid a report in the Lower House titled The Saga of the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway Extension to Point Fortin and referred it to the Joint Joint Select Committee (JSC) on Land and Physical Infrastructure for examination.
Dr Moonilal, who is also the shadow minister for works and transport, said, “In the midst of the Halloween season, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has launched his most bizarre-yet witchhunt, an eerie wild goose chase into a 15-year-old project.”
He said Dr Rowley used his government’s parliamentary majority to get unlimited speaking time.
Dr Moonilal said the opposition had anticipated that he would have utilised it to announce effective anti-crime operational measures and policies.
He added, “After all, the bloodletting is continuing, with mass murders, home invasions, bank robberies and various other brutal attacks on innocent citizens.
“Instead, Dr Rowley presented a longwinded unsigned and undated document, bizarrely termed a ‘saga’ into a highway project that has been subject to independent reviews for a decade and a half.”
Dr Moonilal said that UNC temporary Senator Dr Carson Charles had earlier provided a thorough analysis of all aspects of the venture.
He said, “The PNM-appointed Commission of Enquiry into the construction of the highway has already cost taxpayers $11 million before holding a single sitting.
“This latest shenanigan from Rowley is another dying gasp of a collapsed administration, which is tossing up freak shows while people perish at the hands of marauding criminals.”
Dr Moonilal said a JSC will waste more time and money on another long-lasting witch-hunt.
He added, “More fees will be needed to pay legal and other professionals to represent persons and the committee itself. Some of the very same lawyers, well known to appear on behalf of the government will be called out to send in more bills to the parliament and the myriad of individuals and state and private organizations that may be involved.
“This coming on the heels of the highest ever annual legal fees paid out of $195 million from the office of the Attorney General alone in fiscal 2023.
“On behalf of a besieged nation, the opposition again appeals to the prime minister to deal with the critical and urgent issues of the day instead of engaging in Halloween masquerading.”
There are questions to be answered by the Opposition
why the contract not terminated when they found out that OAS had gone bankrupt
Why the cost overrun
The Gov’t must say why 11M was spent on CoE that never got started.