Imbert: PP was zero-zero-zero govt

Imbert made this declaration in his contribution to debate on a motion by Couva South MP Rudy Indarsingh in the House of Representatives.

He also disclosed that in the first half of this month, the country received $200 million in valuable revenue from the supplementary petroleum tax (SPT).

Indarsingh praised “Comrade Watson Duke” on his election as Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Minority Leader in Monday’s THA elections.

He then claimed the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) purposely choreographed the idea of a wage freeze/wage restraint in TT, there are 25,000 unemployed persons in TT and the Government is being run by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Indarsingh charged that Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley “duped the population” in 2015, into believing the PNM cared about this country’s workers.

In response, Imbert quoted from a December 22, 2016 letter sent to Energy Minister Franklin Khan from Petrotrin.

Imbert, who is currently acting Energy Minister, said Petrotrin, “on the instructions of the ministerial committee of the then PP government, offered the union (Oilfield Workers Trade Union) for the 2011 to 2015 period, zero percent in the first year, zero percent in the second year, and zero percent in the third year.” He said Indarsingh, as a minister of state in the finance ministry, was an “active participant to institute a wage freeze at Petrotrin in the 2014- 2015 period.” As he declared this was “the height of hypocrisy” by the Opposition to act “like Caesar’s wife”, Government MPs thumped their desks as Imbert quipped, “What a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive.”