3 months ago
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Minister of Tertiary Education and Skills Training Prof Prakash Persad makes a point during a meeting of the Standing Finance Committee in Parliament on October 22. - Photo by Angelo MarcelleGOVERNMENT and the opposition argued during a meeting of the Standing Finance Committee of the House of Representatives before the committee approved an expenditure of $1,797,511,800 for the Ministry of Tertiary Education and Skills Training.
In his address to the committee, Tertiary Education Minister Prof Prakash Persad described the ministry as lean, small and agile.
"What the figures indicate here today, is it's a new ministry, we're trying to establish baseline financial figures as we go forward."
He said if some of the allocations for the ministry are inadequate, additional funding could be sourced during the mid-year review next year.
In response to questions from St Ann's East MP Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, Persad said there were many positions in the ministry that had been vacant for a long time. He added Gadsby-Dolly would be familiar with this as education minister in the former PNM government.
Persad said, "For the ministry is being in a position of (being) reconstituted."
Gadbsy-Dolly repeated her questions about vacancies at the ministry.
Persad asked how many times he needed to repeat this comment.
"There are a lot of vacancies in the ministry."
He told Gadsby-Dolly the oldest positions have been filled.
Gadsby-Dolly replied, "Minister, I am asking how many positions are on your establishment (ministry)?"
She asked Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo to help Persad with his answer.
San Fernando East MP Brian Manning asked Persad, "Minister, why are you ducking the question?"
Persad denied he was doing this.
Speaker Jagdeo Singh told Manning, "It's a little too early to start."
He suggested to Manning to make an intervention and not shout commentaries.
Manning told Singh, "I did ask a question."
Persad said there are 911 positions in the ministry. He added 126 of these positions are filled.
He added, "The ministry is in a mess."
Gadsby-Dolly said, "Well clearly, minister. The fact that you don't know the number of people on the establishment."
Opposition MPs thumped their desks in support.
Persad countered, "Because you (PNM) left it in a mess. That is why."
He added, "The record must show it."
Gadsby-Dolly said, "I don't know where that editorialising is coming from."
Port-of-Spain North/St Ann's West MP Stuart Young intervened.
Before Young could question Persad, he replied to an inaudible comment from the government benches.
"Who are you? You are not in charge of these proceedings."
Singh appealed to government and opposition MPs to let the meeting continue in an orderly fashion.
Gadsby-Dolly gave way to Young.
He reminded Persad he indicated his ministry is a new one.
Young said,"So by definition, a new ministry could not have been filled previously."
He added, 'Therefore I am failing to understand why those comments are being made."
Young said, "The simple question put to you is with your new ministry that did not exist for ten years...so therefore no vacancy under a non-existent ministry could have been filled by anybody, not even the UNC."
He asked Persad, "How many vacancies exist in your new ministry?"
Young told Persad, "I am now happy that you are no longer in charge of a tertiary education institution."
Last week, the University of Trinidad and Tobago conferred the title of Professor Emeritus on Persad, who spent 18 years at the institution.
Singh said there was no need to shout questions and ask them in a belligerent manner.
He suggested to Gadsby-Dolly to ask Persad to submit answers to her questions in writing.
"You asked the minister the same question three times."
Gadsby-Dolly said, "I asked a simple question and I asked for a simple response."
Persad said he never indicated the ministry was new, but re-established.
He claimed Young has "selective hearing."
Singh advised Persad and Gadsby-Dolly not to argue.
Gadsby-Dolly said, "I am getting answers that are shifting all over the place."
Persad replied this was not so.
Gadsby-Dolly told Persad she was speaking to Singh to clarify something.
Persad said, "You are misrepresenting me."
Singh suggested to Gadsby-Dolly to ask questions without editorialising them.
Tancoo supported Persad on the point of providing additional funding to the ministry if necessary.
He asked, "Why are we belabouring this question?"
Gadsby-Dolly replied, "The money is not coming from a well that you can just dip in and take money."
She said, "It is not as though money can just be created to put in these line items."
In a budget exercise, Gadsby-Dolly continued, proper planning must be done and that line items are funded as they should be.
Singh said, "I think we have had enough of this long, unnecessary dissertation about this question."
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