Bloody action against State

A FIERY Basdeo Panday, Leader of the Opposition yesterday predicted bloody action against the State, lambasted Government Minister Christine Sahadeo and blasted House Speaker Barry Sinanan, forcing the man in charge of the Parliament (Sinanan) to back down in the face of his vigorous outburst. The clash between Panday and the Speaker came after he  characterised Government Minister Christine Sahadeo as “an arrogant, self-opinionated, narcissistic, Junior Minister.” The House of Representatives was debating the Caroni Vesting Bill, when Panday began his verbal attack. Sahadeo who piloted the measure was first in his line of fire. “Does she realise that she is being used as the Member for PoS North (former Agriculture Minister) John Rahael was?” he asked. “It is significant that they (the PNM) used him (Rahael) to initiate the death of the sugar industry and are using you to complete it, he told Sahadeo. “What was the significance?” Camille Robinson-Regis asked, feigning ignorance.

“Why they not using you?” Couva South MP Kelvin Ramnath shot back. Panday said he couldn’t understand how Sahadeo “without fluttering her false eye lashes” presented this bill and had the audacity to say it was for the benefit of agriculture. “Does the Junior Minister know that thousands of former Caroni employees are now unemployed with no livelihood? And if she knows it, does she care?” the Opposition Leader asked. “Does she know that they cannot send their children to school? Does this arrogant, self-opinionated, pompous, narcissistic junior minister...? Sinanan rose to his feet, saying “No, No!” “What is wrong with that!” Panday snapped. “Please honourable member,” Sinanan continued. “What is wrong with that!” Panday growled. “When I speaking you must sit down you know!” the UNC leader roared, showing no regard for the parliamentary procedure that when the Speaker is addressing an MP, the MP sits down.

Sinanan ignored the direct challenge. He said he found the words used by Panday to describe Sahadeo as “very intemperate.” “What one?” a defiant Panday shot back. Before Sinanan could answer, Panday shouted: “You going to have trouble protecting her (Sahadeo) here today yuh know. Because she is destroying the lives of people...” His colleagues pounded their tables and Panday roared: “Not today. Any other day. Not today!” Sinanan relented. In seeking to analyse why the PNM had plotted the destruction of the sugar industry and its workers, Panday asked: “Is it out of spite, malice, envy, greed, hatred, discrimination? Or it is pure unadulterated racism? Some argue that it may well be a combination of all these.” He said the most powerful argument was that it was motivated by greed for the lands of Caroni and Orange Grove.

“This bill is about giving away land. I think we are about to witness one of the biggest land grabs this country has even seen since Independence. This is what this bill is all about. But I predict that the grab for Caroni land would result in one of the bloodliest clashes this country has even seen,” he said. He said some experts argued that the PNM had always seen sugar workers as the recalcitrant minority that always supported those in Opposition. He said this was a fallacy because the sugar industry consisted of Trinidadians of all races and because the recalcitant minority had become the “decisive majority” who no longer lived in the sugar belt but were dispersed throughout the country. He predicted that very little agriculture would take place on Caroni lands and what would take place is light industry, manufacturing, housing, and malls.