Rowley: No criminal coming by me

He said the cameras were only returned when he assumed office and dared Persad-Bissessar if she had information that criminals visit the Prime Minister’s residence, she should take it to the police, because the CCTV footage would show all.

Rowley was responding to questions asked by UNC political leader, Persad-Bissessar, on whether those responsible for the US$2 million found by Customs officers at the Port of Point Lisas often visited his official residence “If you believe that criminals are coming to see me there, then just go and ask the police to go and look at the cameras and see what the criminal is and case closed. But what she did when the house became under her control was to remove every single camera on the compound so that God alone knows what was going on there. Sodom and Gomorrah 24/7 and on steroids,” Rowley said at a PNM meeting on the corner of La Clave and John Streets in Chaguanas.

Rowley said Persad-Bissessar’s statements were “stark, raving, reckless, and irresponsible” as it could turn investors away, especially as the statements were made by someone with the weight of a former prime minister.

“If she believes that where I live in the Prime Minister’s public house, built by you and supported by you, that criminals come there, I want to remind Mrs Persad-Bissessar that I am the Prime Minister who is living in the Prime Minister’s house and it is not a brothel, it is not a criminal location, it is good, ordinary, clean, decent, my family life going on there!” Rowley then trained his guns on Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal, who had asked on a UNC platform whether “drug money” was being used to fund the PNM’s local government election campaign.

Rowley explained that from the PNM’s inception, the party funded itself with members’ dues, saying every PNM minister, senator, mayor and local government official puts 2.5 percent of their salaries towards the running of Balisier House.

Rowley later corrected the 2.5 percent figure to five percent under the advice of party chairman, Franklin Khan. “Five percent?” he asked, “it is worse than I thought.” On the recent “roti wars” triggered by his disclosures of the last government’s spending on a Divali function, Rowley urged supporters to ignore the UNC’s attempts to make his comments appear racist. “Roti and red solo is a national dish,” said Rowley. He reminded his detractors the focus was not on roti, but on the wanton wastage of public funds.

Responding to the media’s discovery that murder statistics offered by UNC Senators Wayne Sturge and Gerald Ramdeen contained duplicated names, Rowley reminded the population that Ramdeen had used a similar method of “cut and paste” in the “prisongate” scandal.