I spoke freely on commercial

I have read in the newspaper statements made by the UNC with respect to the advertisements on the East Port-of-Spain project, where they have said that the persons on the ads are not from the neighbourhood, and that we are PNM proponents. I would like to know which one of the UNC members know me and know where I live. Have any of them ever come to this part of Trinidad, other than Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, who is only there for his own media publicity? As far as I am concerned they do not want to see us live any better than we are living right now. Supporting political agendas is not important to me right now, but where and under what conditions I live is of primary importance to me.

I have lived on Nelson Street my entire life. I went to that apartment on arrival from the hospital and I have lived there ever since. Furthermore, when I agreed to do the commercial for the HDC I made it clear that I would speak my mind on this matter. They told me that I would be allowed to speak freely about what I felt about the project, which I did. My statements were not read from an HDC prepared script, but were my own feelings about the project. The persons in the other ads are people known to me from the neighbourhood, either as residents or business people.

Why does the UNC believe that we are not from East Port-of-Spain? Is it that they think that there are no articulate, sensible people, who can think for themselves, living here? The UNC must understand that not everyone operates according to their principles or lack of. I am from East Port-of-Spain and I have stood for high morals, sound principles, and integrity all my life. I care for the people in my community and want each and every one of us to benefit from this development programme. It is our job to listen to what the HDC says to us and to make sure that they do all that they propose to do. I truly believe that this is our time to improve our standard of living; we deserve it just like every other citizen of this country.