– Kamla to Caricom on Tomas statement
(TRINIDAD EXPRESS): Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has apologised to the region for her statement that any aid given to Caribbean countries affected by Tropical Storm Tomas must in some measure benefit Trinidad and Tobago. The Prime Minister was heavily criticised in the region as well as in Trinidad and Tobago.
It even led to a “Boycott Trinidad” Group created on Facebook, calling for a total boycott of all Trinidad and Tobago manufactured products.
According to a Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) report in yesterday’s Gleaner newspaper in Jamaica, Persad-Bissessar, in a radio programme in Jamaica on Monday night, said her remarks were “most unfortunate”.
“I do apologise for the statements that have been taken in this regard. I remain committed to regional integration and to our Caricom (Caribbean Community) brothers and sisters,” she said.
At a news conference on November 1, the Prime Minister had stated: “If we are giving assistance with housing for example…then we may be able to use Trinidad and Tobago builders and companies, so that whatever money or assistance is given redounds back in some measure to the people of Trinidad and Tobago.”
The statement appeared to compound the earlier statement the Prime Minister had made in July when she attended her first regional heads of government conference in Jamaica since her coalition grouping won the May 24 general election. There she had stated that regional countries should no longer regard Port of Spain as “An ATM card”.
However, Persad-Bissessar told radio listeners in Jamaica that since the controversial comments were made, her administration has extended the hand of assistance in the form of several shiploads of containers dispatched to the islands affected and that Haiti would also receive assistance from Port of Spain. She has also visited St Lucia.
“The way I envisioned it is that, I can only give from my home, I think St Lucia Prime Minister Stephenson King put it in these words and I appreciate, when he said what Kamla is saying…that we don’t expect her to go out and shop for us and so she would give us goods and supplies out of Trinidad and Tobago, that is what I meant really. It is most unfortunate the way my comments have been received and I do apologise for that,” she said.
Hurricane Tomas, by and large, missed Trinidad and Tobago but led to the country’s two top politicians having to apologise for statements deemed to be insensitive arising out of the activity relating to the storm.
Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley, 12 days ago, felt constrained to apologise for describing Tomas as a “cloud” for which the Persad-Bissessar Government “had shut down the country”.
In the face of strong criticisms, Rowley issued a public apology stating that his comments were “unfortunate” because it gave the “unintended impression” that he was trivialising a serious situation.