Originally printed at
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/PM_BLAMES_PNM-127646003.htmlBy Joel Julien joel.julien@trinidadexpress.com
August 13, 2011
ELEMENTS within the Opposition People's National Movement (PNM) are fuelling the recent uprisings in the country, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said yesterday.
Persad-Bissessar made that statement following a walkabout on Frederick Street in Port of Spain.
The walkabout, from Queen Street to the Brian Lara Promenade, at the bottom of Frederick Street, lasted some 20 minutes.
"I do believe there is a political element in some of the action that is being taken. It is not simply an issue of industrial unrest or protest action in Point Fortin," Persad-Bissessar said.
On Thursday, protesters, who claimed neglect by the People's Partnership Government, set up burning barricades along every road leading to Point Fortin, shutting down access to the borough.
Questioned about the situation in Point Fortin, Persad-Bissessar said Works and Infrastructure Minister Jack Warner visited the area yesterday, and she was awaiting a report from him.
However, Persad-Bissessar said because the Opposition PNM has been in control of the area for a considerable period of time, she believed there may be some "political element" fuelling the protest action.
Paula Gopee-Scoon, the Member of Parliament for the area, is currently in Grenada.
"As you know, Point Fortin was under the watch of the last administration for the past umpteen years, also, likewise, in Tamana, so I am being advised again there are elements within the Opposition who are sparking that particular line of protest there, and even within the movement, with respect to the wage negotiations, there is a political element that is creeping in," she said.
"Indeed, I do believe one opposition MP went on radio and was encouraging that there be a national strike, so there is that political element that we need to be aware of," Persad-Bissessar said.
In response to the PM's assertion, PNM general secretary Ashton Ford said yesterday the PNM categorically denies any involvement in the organisation of protest action at Point Fortin and Tamana, "though we support residents taking peaceful and legitimate action for the equitable distribution of resources for development of their communities".
Ford said the Prime Minister must not blame the PNM for her Government's incompetence and for her Government's bias in the distribution of country's resources.
"She must also remember that it was the UNC (United National Congress) in Opposition which called for civil disobedience," he said. He also pointed out that it was the Prime Minister herself who said that protest action at the community level would be a thing of the past and would become unnecessary because the Ministry of the People would address such concerns before they reached to the boiling point.
"The PNM would also act responsibly in and out of Government," he said.
Ford said 15 months after being voted into office, the Government was still in election mode and was blaming the PNM for whatever goes wrong. "Nothing has changed," he said, adding the People's Partnership Government did not have a plan to deal with the country's problems.
