Video clip, circulating on social media, of Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales at a press conference on Thursday
‘In an act of extraordinary cowardice, the prime minister also hid from the nation and never attempted to address citizens.’ – Kamla Persad-Bissessar
By Chantalé Fletcher
Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar is slamming Minister of Public Utilities Marvin Gonzales for laughing in response to a question from a reporter who asked if he can give an assurance that Wednesday’s island-wide blackout would not happen again.
Laughing before his response, Gonzales said when he took his oath of office he would have liked to assure the public that Wednesday’s outage would not have happened under his tenure.
He then made reference to the Commissioner of Police saying that he may also wish that there would not be a murder tomorrow.
Gonzales said they all wished the best for the country.
Gonzales was speaking at a press conference on Thursday at the Ministry of National Security in Port-of-Spain to update the public on the blackout.
In a release after the press conference, Persad-Bissessar said what was startling was when reporters asked Gonsalves about assurances to ensure that such would not re-occur, the minister began laughing.
Persad-Bissessar said he even callously stated that the police commissioner could not give an assurance there “would not be another murder”.
She said, “This blackout devastated the perishable stock of businesses already reeling from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and it also facilitated criminal activity.
“Yet the government is behaving like it’s a joke. I wish to tell these immature Ministers that this is no laughing matter.”
Persad-Bissessar said the press conference was nothing more than an embarrassing PR stunt the Rowley regime was famous for.
She said the conference should have addressed what led to what T&TEC’s General Manager Kelvin Ramsook describing the blackout as the “catastrophic failure”.
Persad-Bissessar said the Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds, Minister of Energy and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young as well as Gonzales, all present at the press conference, were not prepared.
She said, “Citizens died last night, there were multiple robberies, citizens felt anxious about the safety of their homes and businesses, many were worried about their loved ones at the hospitals.
“In many places, citizens had to direct traffic or there was no direction at all which totally contradicts the comments from the MONS.”
Persad-Bissessar said, “Government Ministers were frantically purchasing generators and hiding from the public. In an act of extraordinary cowardice, the prime minister also hid from the nation and never attempted to address citizens.
“It is noteworthy that Prime Minister Rowley was missing from the press conference, once again failing to face critical questions on the incident.
“It is inexcusable that Rowley chose to not present himself to the public to explain what happened yesterday.”
She said the incompetence of this government has now become dangerous to the well being of all people of Trinidad and Tobago.
