Kamla: I ‘woulda’ fire Imbert

The Dr Keith Rowley administration, she said, was trying to save face with the announcement by Finance Minister Colm Imbert last week, but “it was since in June of this year, the IMF knew of this wage restraint and zero-zero offer.” The UNC held its first meeting at Fyzabad Secondary Secondary School to showcase the party’s candidates who would contest seats in the Siparia Regional Corporation in the November 28 elections.

Five candidates were presented to a large crowd of supporters.

Persad-Bissessar said, “So do we believe Imbert in this instance or do we believe the prime minister, that it was said in a vacuum and speculation, when it seems that the IMF that is guiding the policy of this government - the fiscal policy - they knew about it since June? We are now in November.” The former prime minister told the crowd that if they “google” (do an search) on the internet the topic “IMF wage restraint” for Trinidad and Tobago, they would see that it was since June, that such a measure was in the making.

She referred to a daily newspaper report, in which IMF’s executive director for Trinidad and Tobago, Otaviano Canuto, and his senior advisor Veronica Ramcharan, praised the People’s National Movement’s government’s “planned introduction of wage and hiring restraint mechanisms”.

Persad-Bissessar went on to say Imbert mistakenly revealed the Government’s plans, because he was showing off that he was “in charge”, while sitting in the Hyatt alongside officials from other countries. She told the crowd, “But mouth open, ‘tory jump out, and then when they realise ‘but wait, Colm, how you going to say a thing like that? We have an election in three weeks time, you mad?’ I am sure they must be tap up that poor fella, because if it were me, I would not have tap him up, I would have fired him.” Gestapo tactics? Persad-Bissessar then went on to speak on the lawsuit announced by Government on Thursday, against nine former State officials, believed to be from the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) saying it was an attempt to change the conversation, and called on Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi to remove the “shroud of secrecy” and release the names of the persons he said he had filed a lawsuit against in the courts.

Persad-Bissessar said, “They are going after nine persons, but they will not tell us who the nine people are? Why? Why are they operating with Gestapo-style tactics? If there are people you have allegations against, why don’t you tell the country? Is it to keep this thing as a shroud over the heads of everybody? Al-Rawi later confirmed a lawsuit was filed, but did not disclose information on the claims in the lawsuit, saying the matter was still at a sensitive stage, except the lawsuit involved matters of corruption, unjust enrichment, and breach of fiduciary duties