Bad-talking TT is a criminal act

EFFORTS by certain local individuals and groups to prevent Trinidad and Tobago from becoming the site of the Free Trade Areas of the Americas (FTAA) Secretariat are a criminal act against the nation.  This was the declaration yesterday by Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Roger Boynes during debate on the 2003/2004 Budget in the Senate.

The Minister strongly condemned attempts to paint TT in a bad light and hurt the country’s chances to become the FTAA Secretariat’s headquarters. TT needs the support of 18 of the 34 FTAA nations to become the site for the FTAA Secretariat and currently has the support of 16 FTAA countries. “That is a criminal act,” Boynes declared. “Freedom of expression,” was the reply from the Opposition benches.

Staring at the UNC senators, Boynes said the PNM was “not out there crying wolf.” He spoke of contributions by himself and Foreign Affairs Minister Knowlson Gift at a recent United Nations General Assembly in the area of youth and sport development. Boynes stressed crime was one of several entities in TT competing for the youths’ attention and his Ministry was working aggressively to ensure that sport wins this race. He dismissed allegations that any Government Minister is protected by armed guards around the clock. “We can walk the streets of TT anyday, anytime, anywhere,” Boynes declared.

Opposition Senator Jennifer Jones-Kernahan boasted that if the Constitution allowed for a “recall election,” the UNC would be returned to office because of prevailing circumstances in TT. She claimed Government made no proper provisions for agriculture in the Budget and this was “the deepest betrayal perpetrated on the population by the PNM.” She also asked Gift to state this country’s view on Cuba’s exclusion from the FTAA, given the close ties between the two countries.