Narine: UNC ‘kidnapped the Treasury’

Local Government Minister Jarrette Narine lamented yesterday that UNC MP Winston Dookeran had “reincarnated himself in the politics” by joining a “a political organisation which had kidnapped” the Treasury for the six years it  was in office.

The statement brought an immediate objection from Social Development Minister Manohar Ramsaran, but House Speaker Barry Sinanan ruled against him. Narine was speaking in the Budget debate in the House of Representatives yesterday. Responding to  Dookeran’s criticism about creating a “state of clients,’’ Narine said the PNM believed in putting money in the hands of the little people. It did not subscribe to the “trickle down” theory expounded by the NAR administration in which Dookeran was a minister. He said under “trickle down” economics, poor people suffered, they couldn’t pay mortgages or send their children to school. “I suffered and my family suffered too, so don’t come here with your fancy language,” Narine said, looking directly at Dookeran. He said “only yesterday” speaking in the same Budget debate, Works Minister Franklyn Khan revealed that the PNM would have been able to pave “all the roads in Trinidad, all the roads in Grenada, in the roads in Barbados...all the Caribbean roads” with the “billion dollars” which the UNC spent under  road paving programme.

“I am saying to you, never again would Trinidad and Tobago allow anyone to capture the Treasury,” Narine stated. “You were thrown out (of office,)” he said, to which UNC MPs  countered: “By (former President) Robinson.” “Last year (in the election), by this population!” Narine shot back. Claiming that it was a poor man’s Budget, Narine said there was nothing wrong with creating hundreds of contractors under CEPEP. Narine also stated that “this benevolent” Government had been equitable with the distribution of the country’s wealth and cited the allocations in Local Government to prove his point. He said Chaguanas, which is UNC-controlled, received $2.25 million, the same allocation as the PNM held San Fernando Corporation, while the PNM controlled Diego Martin Regional Corporation, got less ($1.49 million). He also noted that Chaguanas which had a population of 46,500 people received  the same amount as Tunapuna/Piarco Regional which had a population of 127,346.