Manning not moved by petition

The petition of prominent citizens, including wife of former President Noor Hassanali, has not deterred Prime Minister Patrick Manning from his position that the Parliament should be moved from the Red House. Speaking at a public  meeting at the Hilo Car park on Saturday night, Manning also announced that planes will soon be taking off from Waller Field.  But the Prime Minister noted that “a new brouhaha” had broken out over government’s decision to relocate the Red House.

He said many people “to whom we look up are advancing points of view on the basis of emotion.” He told his supporters that over the next few days “you will see a lot of prominent people saying put it back and so on” “but”, said Manning, “the fundamental error they are making is that the Red House was not traditionally the seat of parliament. “It is the seat of government and it is to those historic roots that we are determined to return it.”Earlier in the meeting, a supporter carried a placard saying “build the blasted parliament.” Manning said that the media were complaining of the inadequate arrangement in the current chamber and it was generally felt that the public gallery was also too small. “As historic as the building is, it did not meet the requirements of parliament and the requirements of a country that is heading for developed country status.” Manning dismissed reports that he wanted to live in the Red House.

The other crowd pleaser which Manning threw out was that the PNM, whose Ministers had been warned by Couva South MP Kelvin Ramnath that their safety could not be guaranteed in the sugar belt would be holding their next public meeting in Ramnath’s constituency. Manning, to loud applause, said he wanted to assure Ramnath that their safety would be very well guaranteed “as the people of Central Trinidad opened their arms more and more to the PNM”. The Prime Minister added, “and when they (the UNC) don’t talk foolishness inside the Parliament, they walk out,” he said to thunderous applause. “If they want to stay out let them. They are largely irrelevant to the politics of Trinidad and Tobago.” Manning, who chastised the UNC for not wanting to support the police bill, recalled that he put his “political tail between his political legs” and approached Panday after the Ramdhanie escape in a bid to find a bi-partisan solution to crime.  Manning also defended the CEPEP programme saying that only last week it received an international award for quality and leadership in Germany. Manning said that those who were attacking him for CEPEP were upset about the fact that the PNM had democratised the programme to give all people a chance.

He said that as the programme is expanded from 110 to 360 contractors, the new contractors would be sourced from community based organisations and village councils. Continuing the theme of job creation Manning said that government was about to launch an industrial estate at Waller Field. He said that of the two runways currently at Waller Field, one would be upgraded so that businesses will be able to export directly from Waller Field and not have to transport their goods to Piarco.