The nationwide million-dollar Christmas toy drive—a brainchild of former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is no more. Persad-Bissessar will only be focusing on her Siparia constituency this year.
While the toy drive brought smiles to the faces of over 200,000 children in the last four years, don’t expect Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to continue this initiative. With T&T facing a recession, Rowley indicated at a public meeting on December 4 in Malabar, Arima, that he had no intention of distributing toys to children this Christmas.
“They say children will be crying because the Prime Minister will not be giving out toys. But let me tell all you parents something, all of you parents, all who have and all who eh have, the best thing you can give your children for Christmas is your love, and give them within your own circumstances and you’ll see the difference.”
Rowley said he will not go around giving out millions of dollars in toys and not say to the public where the toys came from.
In 2011, Rowley had called on Persad-Bissessar to say who were the sponsors of the annual initiative and questioned why contractors were being bullied into financing the then prime minister’s Christmas toy drive.
In dismissing the allegation back then, Persad-Bissessar stated that Rowley was behaving like “Scrooge” since children were happy to receive the gifts.
The then minister of the people Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh also defended the initiative, stating that the toy drive had grown as a result of donations from business and private citizens.
Rowley further told the Arima crowd, “Is when they leave office and they’re fighting for office in the party, you’re hearing whose money buy the toys and who didn’t buy it, and who shouldn’t have bought it. That’s not what Christmas is about.”
On Friday, Persad-Bissessar, in a brief telephone interview with the Sunday Guardian, said she treated 50,000 children with toys and a party bag containing treats annually when she was PM.
In addition, parents and guardians enjoyed themselves with the live entertainment which was provided as they waited in long lines to collect the toys from Persad-Bissessar, who wore her traditional red dress complete with a Santa Claus hat.
At some of the distributing venues, adults also received a tea cup bearing Persad-Bissessar’s photo.
Persad-Bissessar said the initiative was managed by an organising committee, chaired by Peter Kanhai, who sought sponsors from 2010 to 2014.
In 2011, Kanhai declined to say whether or not the committee had a detailed listing of the funds provided for the toy drive and if he would make that information public. He could not be reached last week for comment.
Asked what was the overall cost of the toy distributed, Persad-Bissessar said “again, you would have to work with the committee.”
For 2015, however, Persad-Bissessar said she can only distribute toys in her constituency.
“This is what I have been doing for over 20 years. I will continue. In terms of other locations, it depends on whether we get sponsors to do that. So we may not be able to do the entire country, which we had done before... depending on donations coming in thus far,” the Opposition Leader said.
“I guess with the position now...thus far, I can service my own constituency.”