Achong: I left over ALNG

Lawrence Achong, who resigned as Minister of Labour on Friday, is being solidly supported by his Point Fortin constituents. Chairman of the PNM Pt Fortin constituency Aldon Mason told Sunday Newsday that members of the executive council had met in an emergency meeting on Friday night to discuss Achong’s resignation. “We were all surprised at Minister Achong’s decision, but as an executive, we are solidly behind  him in whatever decisions that he feels he has to take,” he said. They were due to meet with Achong yesterday evening. “We were not privy to any of his reasons, but we will be meeting with him sometime this weekend and we expect that our MP will fully brief us on his reasons for taking the actions that he took,” he said.

However, Mason added that the constituency was also “fully supportive” of the People’s National Movement and  its political leader, Prime Minister Patrick Manning. Asked whether the borough of Point Fortin would suffer as a result of Achong’s departure from the Manning Cabinet, Mason said that while the challenges would now be “greater,” Achong was an “incredible representative” who always put his constituents first. Also in full agreement with Mason’s assessment was the president of the protesting contract workers at Atlantic LNG’s Train IV project, Ernest Thompson, who said that Achong had always been a friend to the labour movement. Thompson who was at the protesting workers’ campsite opposite the construction site of Atlantic LNG train IV, was dressed in a black PNM T-shirt which read “Vote for Achong.”

“While we have always viewed Minister Achong as our friend, his resignation now has an even greater impact on our struggle as the Prime Minister will now have to step in and fill the gap which he (Achong) has left and now we will see who is the real boss in this country, Mr Manning or Bechtel,” Thompson said. Thompson added that he felt there was no one else in Manning’s Cabinet capable or with the requisite “backbone” such as Achong had, to take up the mantle of Labour Minister. “We are in for some interesting times in the labour movement and we are waiting and watching to see what Manning does,” Thompson said.

In and around the bustling Pt Fortin Borough, nearly all of the people Newsday spoke to yesterday voiced their support for their MP, with some even saying the only reason they still supported the ruling PNM party, was because of Achong. Others said while they disagreed with Achong resigning his post as Labour Minister, they were still supporting him as their MP, and were awaiting his arrival at the PNM Pt Fortin constituency office to hear of his future plans.

Despite reports from high-level sources in the ruling People’s National Movement that Prime Minister Patrick Manning may not accept Point Fortin MP Lawrence Achong’s resignation as Labour Minister, Achong’s wife, Marlene Coudray, yesterday insisted there was no turning back for her husband. “All I can say is Larry sent in his resignation letter to the Prime Minister and there is no turning back from here,” Coudray, the Chief Executive Officer of San Fernando City Corporation, told Newsday at her Ste Madeleine home yesterday morning. See stories on Pages 18 and 30.