Kamla: Manning wants to be Caricom’s godfather

PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning’s burning desire to be “Godfather of Caricom” is the reason for Government’s urgency in amending the Immigration (Caribbean Com-munity Skilled Nationals) Act 1996 before he attends the Caricom Heads of Govern-ment summit in Jamaica on June 28. This was the accusation levelled against Manning by Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar during a special sitting of Parliament yesterday to amend that Act. Persad-Bissessar claimed the new Act was “a dangerous piece of legislation” that would leave Trinidad and Tobago vulnerable to an invasion of persons from “lesser developed Caricom nations”. She identified Haiti as one such nation and expressed fear at the possibility of 3.6 million Haitians flooding into the country and depriving citizens of jobs. Persad-Bissessar called for Haiti to be “taken off the schedule” of countries covered by the Act. “What is the urgency of this Bill?” she asked. The UNC MP answered her own question, saying that yesterday’s session was linked to Manning’s “mission to deal with Caricom not Trinidad and Tobago. “He now wants to be the Godfather of the Caricom,” Persad-Bissessar declared. She wondered what was the “mesmerising effect” which St Vincent and the Grenadines PM Dr Ralph Gonsalves seemed to have on Manning and claimed Parliament was being rushed into amending the Act “to make the Prime Minister look good in Jamaica”. Persad-Bissessar recalled that “Caricom never stood up for justice” during the 18-18 electoral deadlock in 2001 and reiterated the UNC’s condemnation of plans to establish the Caribbean Court of Justice in TT. She also claimed under the Representation of the People’s Act, Caricom nationals would be able to gain residential rights and can vote in any election.

“Pack the hills of Laven-tille,” Couva South MP Kelvin Ramnath scoffed. Persad-Bissessar declared that the PNM had clear legislative agenda and it was simply “government by vaps”. She recalled that in 1998 then Prime Minister Basdeo Panday declared “we must look after TT citizens first”. Persad-Bissessar told Parliament that this is the position Manning should adhere to at the summit. Earlier in the sitting, Labour Minister Larry Achong slammed Oropouche MP Dr Roodal Moonilal for misleading the public that locals would lose their jobs to Caricom nationals. “The question of jeopardising jobs does not come into play,” he declared. He said a labour market council has been created to guard against that threat and Government was now “well-poised” to reduce national employment to five percent within a short time. Referring to the categories of workers under the new Act, the Minister said the UNC were qualified to work in other islands as artistes or “court jesters”. Achong’s remarks that the UNC would support a TT-Guyana-Suriname political union evoked shouts of  “racist” and “shame on you” from the Opposition benches.