Bakr: I leave it up to God

On the issue of auctioning the Jamaat’s land, Bakr stated,“Up to now, we don’t believe. I still don’t believe that these people are going to take my property.”

The court-ordered auction would be compensation to the State for damage to properties in Port-of-Spain during the attempted coup.

Bakr was confident the lawyers involved in the matter would reach some kind of consensus which will allow the Jamaat to keep their properties. He sidestepped questions about whether the auctioning of the Jamaat lands could have negative consequences and said he has no problem with the Prime Minister.

Bakr claimed to know many “good people” in the People’s Partnership Government who would not allow any injustice to take place. He identified Works Minister Jack Warner, Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh, Justice Minister Herbert Volney, Legal Affairs Minister Prakash Ramadhar and Deputy Speaker Dr Fuad Khan as some of those persons.

Bakr added he appeared twice before Volney when he was a High Court judge and “he (Volney) was always fair and just to me.”

On Wednesday, during a public meeting of the People’s Partnership in El Dorado, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan said advertisements for the sale of the Jamaat properties would be placed in daily newspapers, Newsday, Express and Guardian. Ramlogan assured yesterday that security measures will be put in place on the day of the auction, and even if members of the public do not purchase the properties, the Government will find a useful purpose for them.

The auction takes place on August 17.