1 week ago
6
Senior Reporter
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has reiterated her stern warning to members of her Government to steer clear of questionable alliances, just a day after publicly threatening to “buss their heads” and fire ministers caught “cavorting” with figures linked to corruption.
Speaking yesterday at a Caroni lease distribution ceremony at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts, San Fernando, Persad-Bissessar doubled down on her remarks from the night before during a meeting in Couva, when she accused some of her MPs of mingling with “crooked contractors and lawyers” tied to the former People’s National Movement administration.
While she did not name any individuals during the meeting and refused to do so yesterday as well, the Prime Minister said the warning was meant to protect the integrity of her administration, which recently marked 100 days in office.
“I don’t want people to get caught up in the glory of office and forget why we were put there,” Persad-Bissessar told reporters.
“That’s what I spoke about last night, using our 100-day milestone to mark the way forward. There were some mistakes made in the first incarnation, and I don’t want those things to happen again.”
She stressed that her caution was not intended to air internal grievances publicly but to set a clear tone for her Government’s conduct.
“I’m not telling tales out of school. I’ve given them the warnings. Let’s be guided. We are still new in Government,” she said.
Asked about her Government’s performance over the last 100 days, Persad-Bissessar said while progress has been made, there was room for improvement.
“I think we’ve done very, very well, but there’s still so much left to do. So we’re off to a good start in the first 100 days.”
Asked about her position on the ongoing State of Emergency (SoE), which was rolled out less than 100 days into her Government’s tenure, Persad-Bissessar said she was satisfied and has kept updated on developments.
“Things will always be better, but we’ve done fairly well. The homicide rate, the murder rate, as I said last time, is down by 34 per cent, if I remember correctly. We assess it daily.
“I get reports from the Commissioner of Police each day. As far as the Minister of Homeland Security, we’re looking at numbers. The numbers are trending, definitely trending downwards.”
The lease distribution saw over 200 ex-Caroni (1975) Ltd workers receive long-promised land leases as part of the government’s ongoing programme to settle outstanding commitments.
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