— ready to defend health, security records in Parliament

— happy for opportunity to remind nation of the Coalition’s monumental failures in gov’t

HEALTH Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, and the Minister of Home Affairs, Robeson Benn, will rigorously defend their performance when a no-confidence motion against them, filed by Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon, comes up for debate. The motions were filed with Clerk of the National Assembly, Sherlock Isaacs, on Tuesday. The motions contend that the two ministers have persistently demonstrated inability to effectively undertake their duties in their sectors.

“Mr. Harmon has given us a unique opportunity for us to debate this matter in the Parliament, and of course, we welcome this opportunity to remind Mr. Harmon and the APNU+AFC of the many shortcomings that they have had for the five years that they were in government,” Dr. Anthony said.
“I welcome the motion that they have put there because what we have done in last several months is far more than they have accomplished in the last five years that they were in government,” he added.

Dr Anthony expounded on a plethora of instances which he opined constituted the “damage and destruction” to the Public Health sector caused entirely by the decisions of the APNU+AFC Coalition during their tenure in government. He touched on matters including but not limited to the Sussex Street drug bond scandal; massive drugs shortages during the 2015 – 2020 period; some $10bn worth of medicine that had expired at the Diamond Bond and additionally some $4bn of medication that had to be disposed of because they had expired as well.

In comparing the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) Government’s approach to managing the public health sector as opposed to the APNU+AFC, Dr Anthony highlighted a gamut of issues, including but not limited to the management of the COVID-19 pandemic. “For those first few months when they were there we had difficulty having a PCR test done … throughout their tenure they would have done about 21 tests per day,” Dr Anthony said, pointing out that the National Public Health Reference Laboratory is now able to do more than 2,000 tests within a 24-hour period.

He also addressed the issue of the shortage of personal protective equipment; the shortage of ventilators; the lack of a plan for the treatment of the COVID-19 virus; and the COVID-19 Hospital lacking the necessary facilities to function, all which occurred under the APNU+AFC administration which the PPP/C government had to correct.
“It’s going to be fun when this thing comes up for debate, because we can clearly contrast what they have been doing with what we are doing and how that differs,” Dr Anthony said.

The Health Minister explained that separate and apart from the tremendous comparison of the records of the two political parties during their time in Government, the PPP/C government is also correcting the deficiencies within the Health Sector caused by the APNU+AFC and is also ensuring better services are provided.
“We inherited shortages… and we are correcting them and we are committed to making sure that we fix it; we have spent billions of dollars already on fixing it and once we fix it and it is at 100 per cent delivery, we are going to maintain that,” he said.

“So yes, we have a lot of things to talk about and I am happy that Harmon has provided me with that opportunity so that the people of this country would have a fairer idea of where we are coming from, what we have done and what more there is to be done, because we are not done here yet,” he added. The Home Affairs Minister shared similar sentiments as he labelled the motions a “ludicrous but amusing event”.

“It speaks to deeper issues relating to the desperation of the APNU+AFC in the light of them being continuously exposed in respect of their failings both in Government and also against the efforts which we are making in just 11 months, even with the COVID and severe flooding.”
Benn stated that, as compared to last year, serious crime has seen a 23 per cent reduction and he is engaging in discussions with the Joint Services to formulate methods conducive to further reducing the crime statistics of the country. The minister also noted that his ministry is currently revitalising the security sector to combat crime and efforts include, but not limited to, adding a larger fleet of vehicles for the Joint Services, and training of security personnel. Harmon, he contended is a failed and desperate leader, who is searching for relevance.