PNM Women: All crimes against TT serious

THE WOMEN’S Arm of the ruling PNM yesterday condemned Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday for suggesting that Government should abandon investigations of alleged criminal activities which took place under the watch of the former UNC regime. Addressing a public meeting in St Augustine on Monday, Panday said he did not understand how Government could pay Canadian forensic investigator Bob Lindquist to track down the assets of party financier Steve Ferguson to Liechenstein and uncover overseas bank accounts belonging to persons aligned to the UNC, but could not recover ransom monies for persons kidnapped in Trinidad and Tobago. In a statement, the PNM’s Women League declared, “The UNC leader went to great lengths to criticise the Government for the sums expended on the white collar criminals who plundered the Treasury and stashed millions in offshore bank accounts in London and elsewhere.

“It is clear that Mr Panday does not appreciate the relationship between white collar and other crime and the breakdown in society that have resulted from his party’s plundering of the Treasury and signals sent to the society at large during his mercifully brief tenure in office. “In what could only be seen as enlightened self-interest, the UNC leader had the audacity to suggest that Government’s efforts to trace the proceeds of crimes committed during his term in office should be abandoned,” added the statement. Noting that Panday himself is before the court in relation to matters concerning foreign bank accounts, the PNM’s Women’s League said it was typical of Panday “to think first of his personal well-being as the nation looks for inspired leadership against the criminal elements.” The PNM Women’s League added that Panday’s latest utterances on the crime situation in TT “continue his obstructionist and outdated approach to treating with seriousness issues facing this country.”