EMOTIONS gripped the National Assembly on Thursday evening after the Government and Opposition once again failed to find common ground on an investigative mission to determine whether the Sussex Street drug bond was in use.

During his presentation to the august body, opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Anil Nandlall complained that Government was expending $14M a month to rent the facility which he said was not even storing “a tablet.”

He was interrupted by Public Health Minister, Dr George Norton, who, on a Point of Order, immediately rejected the claim.

However, Nandlall once again rose to his feet, this time saying that the bond “was not in use,” which once again was denounced by the minister.

At this point, a decision was made by the Speaker of the House, Dr Barton Scotland, to have one representative from each side of the House accompany the Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly and other officials from Parliament, to investigate the claims.

Upon arrival, the MPs were asked to wait for some time before the keys arrived and they were allowed in. Accompanied by the media and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health, Trevor Thomas, the representatives from both sides of the House were taken inside the facility where boxes of items were stored.

The items listed were IDU insertion kits, latex condoms, umbilical cord clamps and lubricants.
The minister proceeded to have one of the boxes opened by the Deputy Clerk, upon request by the opposition’s representative, Irfaan Ali.

A few minutes later, Ali requested visual evidence of “a tablet” which he said was the initial statement of his colleague. However, this request was not granted, as further inspection of the facility was ongoing.

Dissatisfied, the Opposition member went back to the National Assembly and reported that he had witnessed “a lot of empty shelves and enclosed boxes.” He expressed his disapproval over the fact that he was not able to see “a tablet.”

“I said we would like to see tablets. But a person said that tablets are not stored there because it is a secondary bond,” he reported.

Junior Health Minister, Dr Karen Cummings, who was also present at the Sussex Street location, had explained that the bond was a secondary one.

“We asked specifically to see tablets and no tablets were shown,” Ali said, adding that when he was leaving the bond, threats were hurled at him and another PPP member by residents who had been “mobilised.”

Government’s representative, Volda Lawrence, on the other hand, said that several aisles with boxes marked “medicine” on them were visible upon entry of the bond.

She said that this was shown to both the Deputy Clerk and the PPP members. She also noted that Ali insisted that he be shown “a tablet,” but he was asked to speak to the Deputy Clerk since she was the one who decided which box should be opened.

Having not been able to come to a definitive conclusion on the matter, since there was no common ground on the intention of the visit, the Speaker was forced to adopt a proposal by Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan.

He suggested that a transcription of the speeches of those who spoke about the drug bond be made, and same presented to the House today, and a decision be made. He offered that the transcription is likely to produce more clarity on what the intended purpose of the visit to the bond was.