Kamla defends public servants, in ‘roti war’

“The Minister who wants to donate his salary to clean some pool by the Prime Minister’s residence, when you start going through Cabinet notes to try to victimise people, when you start a witch hunt against our public servants, be very careful Sir, that you have no cocoa that cannot take rain!” said Persad-Bissessar at a UNC public meeting at the Penal Secondary School on Wednesday.

Persad-Bissessar trained her guns on Young, a Minister in the Office of the Attorney General, as he, in a press conference, produced copies of three invoices from three different caterers paid for the provision of services in the 2014 Divali function.

She said when the PNM criticised her for “profligacy” or overspending on “roti” for the 2014 Divali function, they were in fact criticising public servants who are responsible for signing cheques and handling expenses.

“As prime minister, I did not sign any payments. I signed no cheques because the law of our land does not permit that to be done.” Further, she said, “Minister Young, you are in fact attacking chief accounting officers of our country, permanent secretaries who sign off on expenses. These officers are dedicated public servants - men and women who spend days and nights ensuring things are done in a right and proper way.” Persad-Bissessar also criticised Attorney General Faris Al Rawi’s “hypocrisy”, saying that despite his constant preaching about whistle- blower legislation, the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) has “shut down” internet access to employees to prevent whistle-blowers from leaking information about corruption in the corporation.