Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley has said while he supported the work of the Police Service, he hoped the assassination case of Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal will now be brought to a close. Leader of the Jamaat al Muslimeen, Yasin Abu Bakr had been detained for questioning in connection with Seetahal’s murder but released yesterday.
Rowley made the comments as he addressed party supporters at the Princess Royal Car Park, Arima, on Tuesday night. “I take no issue with the police doing their work but I am still a citizen observing. I hope that the police can add to the detection level that is so low with respect to criminal conduct.
“So I hope at the end of the inquiry and the questioning of Bakr that it is in fact serious, honest police work and we are very near to closing the case on Dana Seetahal because if it is not we would have entered another dangerous and unacceptable state of affairs in Trinidad and Tobago,” Rowley said.
On accusations that he was aggressive and a fighter Rowley said that was true as he had often fought for the people. “They accuse me of being a fighter. I am a fighter. I fight for you. I fought to bring Panday to the table to sign the agreement between Caroni and the unions. I fought for Caroni when I went to Parliament to get $2 billion for Caroni,” Rowley said.
UNC, he claimed, was also releasing misinformation about Caroni to create racial tensions during the election race. The Opposition Leader also shot back at Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her Government who accused him of having no plans for the country, promising to address the mass transportation problem in the country.
Saying that no longer would children have to wake up at 4 am to go to school, Rowley said all it took was skill and will. “We recommit ourselves to a policy of building a mass transit system in Trinidad and Tobago: East, West, North, South. Yet some still say we have no policy.
“Yes, they right. I have no policy. I have no policy to thief government money. I have no policy to appoint friends and family to office. I have to policy to make my friends escape through Section 34 and I have no policy to lie to Parliament that LifeSport is $6 million when it is really $400 million,” Rowley added.
He also criticised Congress of the People (COP) leader Prakash Ramadhar for failing to stand up to Persad-Bissessar for what was wrong. Rowley also praised the 12 PNM candidates for east Trinidad, saying they were well chosen.
He added: “The strength of our experience supports the newcomers to our party’s slate. Under a PNM government, no government will blackmail any Prime Minister to get any position. It is not about what they get, it is about the service they bring.”
Candidates
12 candidates for the eastern constituencies were unveiled:
• Hafeez Ali (Barataria).
• Brigadier Ancil Antoine (D’abadie/O’Meara).
• Alisha Romano (St Augustine).
• Glenda Jennings-Smith (Toco/Sangre Grande).
• Cherrie-Ann Crichlow Cockburn (Lopinot/Bon Air West).
• Barath Barry Lochan (Cumuto/Manzanilla).
• Clarence Rambharat (Mayaro).
• Anthony Garcia (Arima).
• Maxie Cuffie (La Horquetta/Talparo).
• Esmonde Forde (Tunapuna).
• Terrence Deyalsingh (St Joseph).
• Camille Robinson-Regis (Arouca/Maloney.