Panday: Ramesh Maharaj — estate agent

OPPOSITION LEADER Basdeo Panday believes former Attorney-General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj has found his calling in life as an estate agent for Caroni (1975) Limited.

Addressing a meeting of union leaders at his Port-of-Spain office on Thursday, Panday was visibly amused about proposals made by investors Amarama Limited (with whom Maharaj has been holding talks over the last month) to purchase Caroni’s assets and rehire all of the company’s former workers. The plan was shelved on Monday, after the investors agreed that Government’s plans to restructure Caroni was the best strategy to follow at this time. “What proposals for Caroni land? This is the one in which my AG has descended into an estate agent. Has he become an estate agent? I have not seen the particulars of the proposals. I imagine I will leave that to estate agents like Mr Maharaj,” Panday said. The UNC leader’s remarks also appeared to please All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers Trade Union president general Rudranath Indarsingh.

Maharaj subsequently said the investors were making a bid for Caroni lands not given to former workers and cane farmers and claimed that none of these individuals have received land from the Government. Agriculture Minister John Rahael said the matter was now in the hands of the Estate Management Business Development Company and Government will keep its promise to give former sugar workers and cane farmers first preference to Caroni’s lands for agricultural and non-agricultural purposes.

NATUC general secretary Vincent Cabrera appealed to the UNC to support the Occupational Health and Safety Bill 2003 when it comes to Parliament to prevent workers from being “squeezed.” In immediate response, Panday said: “We have given our word to the trade union movement that we will not allow our arena of struggle to be chosen for us. We are the ones who had brought the OSHA to parliament which the PNM had rejected. We will support the bill and we are going resist any move to refer it to any committee so that it will be delayed any further.” Panday said the unions were also concerned about the effects of a $1,000 monthly NIS pension on old age pensions, crime and limited staff at the Labour Ministry to police the Minimum Wages Order.