Rosemarie Sant
Finance Minister Colm Imbert has gone silent after being hauled over the coals by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley before his Cabinet colleagues and then in public at the post-Cabinet news conference following his statements about wage negotiations and a proposed increase in fuel prices in April next year.
At a high-level International Monetary Fund Caribbean forum at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, in Port-of-Spain, on Wednesday, Imbert said trade unions had been told that the government’s starting point in wage negotiations would be 0-0-0 but 24 hours later, the Prime Minister described it as a “speculative position unfortunately made.”
Video of the event showed Imbert openly laughing as he told officials of the International Monetary Fund that in the past year he had increased fuel prices by 15 per cent three times and “they have not rioted yet (snicker and laughter from the minister as he continued), so I might raise it by another 15 per cent in April next year.”
The Prime Minister was “shocked” at Imbert’s disclosure, Government sources told the Sunday Guardian. While there may have been some discussions on those issues in light of the state of the economy it was felt that Imbert “spoke out of turn, wrong time, wrong place.”
On Thursday, shortly after the Cabinet meeting, Rowley, who appeared solo at the post-Cabinet news conference, joked with journalists saying, “You all had fun yesterday, didn’t you? I could tell you one person who didn’t,” referring to himself.
He publicly scolded Imbert, making it clear that he was not happy with the man who acts as Prime Minister when he is out of the country. He likened the manner in which the Finance Minister made the disclosures to a doctor with no bedside manners.
Imbert has been Rowley’s choice to act as PM on every occasion he left the country in the past year, and is seen as a trusted advisor. In his book, From Mason Hall to Whitehall, Rowley said when he challenged Patrick Manning for leadership of the PNM, Imbert was one of three people who “strongly” supported him
Imbert, when asked if in retrospect he felt he should have handled the two issues with more sensitivity, said, “This issue has been appropriately dealt with by the Honourable Prime Minister.”
On claims he had been hauled over the coals by Rowley, Imbert said, “I have never revealed nor will I ever reveal what occurs in Cabinet.”
RUN-INS
Since in office, Imbert has dismissed former Central Bank governor Jwala Rambaran. He has upset members of the Petroleum Dealers Association with his instruction to NP-operated service stations to accept card transactions; the dealers are accepting cash only at their stations. He has also raised questions about a Poverty Report produced by Kairi Consultants headed by economist Dr Ralph Henry.
IN 2010
Following the defeat of the PNM in the general election, when he was asked by CNC3 journalist Khamal Georges about the perception that he was “one of the most arrogant ministers in the Manning Cabinet,” Imbert replied, “That is an error. I was always more interested in the work, so you know, I working hard, 16-18 hours a day, seven days a week and you asking me questions and I say why are you asking me questions, can’t you see how hard I am working?”