PM, KAMLA IN ROTI WAR

However, in a quick response, Opposition Member of Parliament for Princes Town Barry Padarath - who was Persad-Bissessar’s personal advisor when she was PM - demanded that Rowley bring any evidence he has to prove the $350,000 roti bill is true.

Speaking at a local government election campaign meeting in Cocoyea, San Fernando on Wednesday evening, Rowley was in a no-nonsense mood as he barked accusations against Persad-Bissessar of choosing to focus on the personal lives of government ministers instead of discussing national issues relevant to the upcoming election. In making the $350,000 roti bill allegation, Rowley failed to go into details - was the money paid for roti skins (plain roti) or roti complete with curried filling.

He said discovery of the massive roti bill was made while he was going through documents at the OPM on Wednesday, a few hours before journeying to San Fernando to address the campaign meeting. “I want you to wave the receipts for the roti,” a fiery Rowley said as he waded into Persad-Bissessar for attacking “ministers’ wives” over contracts and also for questioning his (Rowley) having more ‘outside’ children than ‘inside’ children.

“Three hundred and fifty thousand dollars in roti for one Divali function at the Prime Minister’s residence! Look at this, if I give every one of you two roti, I can’t spend that kind of money,” the prime minister charged.

SHOW ME THE BILLS Hours later, in a media release issued yesterday, MP Padarath demanded that Rowley make public any receipt/ s for the alleged $350,000 in roti. He said that at no time did the PP spend $350,000 on roti for a Divali function at the Prime Minister’s Residence and Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s. “Produce the bill for $350,000 in roti or publicly apologize for lying to the nation,” Padarath demanded in his press release.

Describing the roti claims as mischievous, Padarath said Rowley had added several bills with respect to food, non-alcoholic beverages, service charge, delicacies, cutlery and utensils for over 4,000 attendees, to arrive at the grand roti total of $350,000. He questioned whether Rowley’s comments were meant as a distraction from burning issues such as rampant crime and sees it as a means of diverting attention away from the Government’s inept performance over the past 15 months in office.

NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS At the PNM meeting on Wednesday, Rowley also slammed Persad- Bissessar for making allegations against his family. The crowd hung to every word he said, cheering as he fired salvo after salvo on the Opposition and Persad- Bissessar. He made it clear the number of children he has, “inside and outside”, of his marriage was none of Persad- Bissessar’s business.

“One year after leaving office, there is a local government election and she (Persad-Bissessar) can say nothing useful about local development and other issues. You know what her issue is? Is that I have more children ‘outside’ than I have ‘inside’.

You understand? But I want to tell Kamla Persad-Bissessar tonight...that is none of your goddamn business! Because as long as Sharon (Rowley’s wife) is happy with how much I have outside and how much I have inside, Rowley is happy with that!” $$ FOR WATER Teasing the crowd and asking if they wanted to hear more, Rowley spoke of a $47,000 monthly payment to clean a pool at the PM’s residence under the PP and which now costs $15,000 and a water valve which was cemented in order for someone to get a contract to supply water to the premises. He spoke of water problems he encountered since moving into the prime minister’s residence and that he was forced to call in WASA.

“They told me there was no real problem.

The problem is somebody under the last regime, cement a valve close to the prime minister’s residence and that generated an opportunity for a contractor to supply water to the prime minister’s residence. All that WASA had to do was to break the concrete, open the valve and we have had water flowing ever since.” He also spoke of the Ministry of Diversity which he renamed the Ministry of nothing. Rowley said: “We just received in the government the annual report of the ministry of diversity. Ask me what the annual report contained, absolutely nothing because it is a ministry of nothing.”