Roget: Imbert must apologise

JTUM president Ancel Roget, in a statement last evening, hit out at Imbert for making “disrespectful and dangerous comments” and should apologise to the National Tripartite Advisory Council (NTAC), the trade union movement, workers, the dispossessed and poverty stricken citizens.

“In addition, we demand that the minister should make absolutely no more comments that can further threaten this important tripartite process, Roget said, declaring Imbert had shown “reckless disregard” for the process, JTUM, he said, believes with no action taken against Imbert, the body took it as a sign of “the government’s direct intention to impose IMF conditionalities and austerity measures on citizens”.

“We stoutly condemn and will resist any attempt by the government to impose any form of austerity measures on the population.” Members of the Tripartite Committee met with Imbert, Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus and Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson- Regis, on Friday.

Earlier yesterday JTUM representative Christopher Henry described the meeting as “interesting”, saying that members of the National Trade Union Centre (NATUC) and JTUM, disagreed with Imbert’s statement which he in made at the 2016 High Level Caribbean Forum at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain last Wednesday.

That forum was attended by members of the IMF (International Monetary Fund).

Henry said, “You had NATUC, JTUM and all of us were saying the same thing, that it was discourteous and in poor taste for the Minister of Finance to make a statement like that to the public.” Henry said Imbert has since informed the tripartite committee that he had been misquoted and “that wasn’t what he meant and he needed to retract what he said.” Henry added, “However, the tripartite process agreed that it should go forward even though he individually made that statement.

“It was not a statement that came out from the Government and as the Prime Minister said he (Imbert) was speaking in a vacuum.

“But the bargaining process does not start at a forum in which the IMF is on the programme.” Henry said there is a facility which ensures the bargaining process starts in a certain way “and that is not the way.” Asked whether Imbert had apologised for his statements, Henry said, “No, he did not apologise for it, but he said the papers misquoted him and he would think about what he is saying.

“But we also said we understand what is taking place in the country right now, we understand the challenges that the Government is facing that is why we give the process, the tripartite process, an opportunity for us to be able to work together.

“But statements like what the minister would have made, does not auger well for the future of that whole process, but we still willing to give it a chance.” Roget, in last night’s statement, said JTUM did not believe Imbert was misquoted.