No confidence motion against Baboolal in Senate today

THE SENATE will today debate a no confidence motion against Senate President Dr Linda Baboolal filed by an Opposition Senator.

Baboolal will not preside. She has opted to allow Deputy Vice President Rawle Titus to preside at the sitting. The motion states in part that Baboolal by her rulings, conduct and utterances both in and out of the Senate has demonstrated unequivocally her bias in favour of the PNM Government. It also contends that her lack of independence and/or understanding of the nature and role of her duties has stifled or stymied the freedom of debate in the Senate. However, before the motion is debated, when the sitting gets underway at 1.30 pm at the Red House, government ministers are expected to give answers to a barrage of questions orally and in writing.

Opposition Senator Wade Mark is asking the Minister of Energy Eric Williams to provide details on the salary and various allowances being received by Petrotrin’s Executive Chairman Malcolm Jones, as well as the terms and conditions Jones had in his previous post as President/Managing Director of Petrotrin. Mark is also seeking answers from Minister of Works and Transport Franklyn Khan on the number of new workers at the Airports Authority from January 2002 to date, their names, positions and qualifications. In addition, Mark wants to know the number of workers who were retrenched from the Authority since 2002, their names, positions, qualifications and their years of service before retrenchment.

Independent Senator Professor Kenneth Ramchand also has a question for the Minister of Trade. Ramchand wants to know the names and qualifications of the investigators used to gather information for relocating Parliament and the dates when the investigation began and ended. Among the questions for written answers are three from Opposition Senator Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan to the Attorney General. She wants to know whether a budget was prepared for the Commission of Inquiry into the Piarco Airport development project, its cost and the amount of monies paid to the Commissions and attorneys in the matter. Seepersad-Bachan also wants information on the Inquiries into the Elections and Boundaries Commission and the Biche High School.