UNC will be bypassed on Anti-Kidnapping Bill

GOVERNMENT WILL modify the Anti-Kidnapping Bill so it can be passed in  Parliament without the support of the United National Congress (UNC), Prime Minister Patrick Manning announced on Saturday night.

The Opposition has refused to vote with Government to ensure a two-thirds majority required for passage of the Bill which would give magistrates the power to refuse bail to persons charged with kidnapping. On the issue of constitutional reform which the Opposition is seeking as a condition for support of the Bill, Manning said his Government will pursue an agenda of reform but not on the UNC’s terms. Addressing a large crowd at a PNM public meeting at Triangle Square in Princes Town, Manning said: “We will pursue constitutional reform with or without them — we don’t have to enter into any agreement with the Opposition.” Health Minister Colm Imbert, who also addressed the meeting, was critical of industrial action currently being taken by doctors at the country’s main hospitals and described Government’s stance in the matter as “a fight between the rich and the poor”.

Imbert noted that doctors had engaged in industrial action on three occasions over the past 12 months, the Health Minister warned that Cuban doctors will soon be manning the hospitals. “If they don’t want to work, we will find other ways to deal with the matter,” he said. The Minister said the doctors were the only group of workers in the country who over the past three years had received a 67 percent salary increase, and he vowed not to allow the country’s health system to collapse at the hands of the protesting doctors. He pointed out that his Ministry had not interfered in the impasse and the RHAs will be left to handle the matter. “But we in the Ministry will do our job. While in Cuba, our negotiating team found the Cuban doctors to be quite qualified,” Imbert said.

Agriculture Minister John Rahael said Government could not continue to fund Caroni (1975) Limited to the tune of $500 billion a year. He said of the 1,079 staff members at the company, 1,103 had accepted the VSEP’s offer. Also addressing the meeting were Works and Transport Minister Franklin Khan; Housing Minister Martin Joseph; Minister in the Ministry of State (Industry and Commerce) Dianne Seukeran and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Christine Kangaloo.