GOVT NEEDS HELP

Reporting to the media at her office on Charles Street in Port of Spain after the meeting, Persad- Bissessar said, “Several matters were raised by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and it is very clear from our discussion that the Government is in need of advice and help in many areas.” Initially, Persad-Bissessar said there was a good rapport and clear understanding during the meeting which nicely set the tone for future talks. “It has been a fruitful day and well worth the discussions.” But in a subsequent interview, following the press conference, with CNC3 which was aired ‘live’ during that station’s 7 o’clock news broadcast, Persad-Bissessar however expressed some disappointment at the talks.

Asked by Newsday about her efforts to speak on hot topics rather than endless consultations of long standing issues, Persad-Bissessar said she had asked Rowley about crime. She said she had asked him why had the Community Comfort Patrol been shut, why had the National Operations Centre been moved into the Strategic Services Agency, what’s the status of the manpower audit into the Police Service and the status of recruitment of more municipal police officers.

On the latter, Persad-Bissessar said Rowley had said these officers are no longer needed. “I await his update on the fight against crime.” She urged him to mull non-legislative interventions and do so before crimes are committed. On Tobago’s self-government, she disagreed with Rowley wanting a study to be done by a House of Representatives Committee.

Firstly, she queried why a committee of a single house and not a Joint Select Committee (JSC) of both houses? Secondly, she said that instead of a committee, the Law Reform Commission (LRC) should collate all past documents and reports of public consultations on Tobago into a compendium to inform crafting of any new draft legislation. “I did not share the view that a House Committee should formulate policy. We are not the Government.” However, she said Rowley accepted her view that all past documents on campaign finance reform should go to the LRC. While she awaits government’s proposal on fresh Anti-Gang legislation, Persad- Bissessar lamented that Government had never supplied details on the past impact of no-bail provisions in the existing Anti-Gang Act, but noted that Rowley yesterday vowed to now do.

She opposed any fresh law to resolve the 53 part-heard cases linked to former chief magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar, saying the accused are entitled to a judicial solution.

The ruling in the case of “Ferguson versus AG”, Persad-Bissessar said, frowned on any laws targeted at a particular court case or at any executive action or intervention.

Persad-Bissessar however urged Rowley to act under the Constitution, using Section 137, to name a tribunal to address the judicial imbroglio that has, in her words, brought the administration of justice to its lowest point. Regarding the Services Commissions, she said they need strengthening, as she lamented only one Director of Personnel Administration (DPA) serving thousands of staff under four commissions. On the Couva Children’s Hospital, she said she was shocked to hear Rowley say the notion of private partners had borne no fruit.