It was a war of former bankers in the Senate yesterday as Public Utilities Minister Robert Le Hunte—an ex-banker—took on former Central Bank governor Jwala Rambarran, now a UNC senator.
“Some people came here with vindictive minds to take advantage to settle scores,” Le Hunte thundered, following Rambarran’s contribution to yesterday’s 2018 Budget debate.
Le Hunte’s address was Government’s comeback after Rambarran attacked the PNM administration, Prime Minister Keith Rowley, Finance Minister Colm Imbert and current Central Bank Governor Alvin Hilaire.
Replying in fiery tones, Le Hunte waded into Rambarran. He said he’d cringed when he’d heard new UNC Senator Saddam Hosein on Wednesday, but it was compounded by Rambarran’s statements.
He said Rambarran complained about PNM deficit Budgets. “As though he’d never seen deficit Budgets before. But we’re here because of the UNC’s big spending over 2010-2015 when they had $63b budgets.”
“He talks about PNM advisors but in the PP’s term all the advice the PP got was “spend, spend, spend, tief, tief, tief’!”
UNC Senators objected.
However, Le Hunte egged on by PNM Senators, continued “...Who the cap fits, let them wear it.”
He said the situation which confronted the PNM in 2015 was so bad there was no money in the Treasury and the new administration had to borrow.
“All this occurred while the Central Bank was under the stewardship of certain people whose name I wouldn’t call—we must put things into context and understand where we came from.”
“He talked about foreign exchange but the PP’s legacy was to totally mash up the system which was in place, the effects of which we’re still experiencing- we tried to fix the problem, you created,” Le Hunte told UNC senators.
Attacking Rambarran’s revelations of Forex customers during his tenure, Le Hunte added, “I was a banker then and I cringed when I realised, it was a banker who’s supposed to be a confidential person and confidentiality was a hallmark of what I stood for as a banker.”
“I remember reading about the situation and saying, how could my (CBTT) governor, my head banker at the time, go and put people’s public information out there?”
“Maybe it’s fate that I have the opportunity to say this now in this House. I remember at the time I was in Africa and I remember reading about it and I was part of this noble profession, that stood for confidentiality - and you broke the trust and statutory duty,” Le Hunte admonished Rambarran directly.
Senate President Christine Kangaloo called for members to “take the temperature down a little.”
But Le Hunte added, “It’s important for us to remember these things at a time when our profession was supposed to be so noble, the things that emanated out from the Central Bank and the ulterior motives or motives that was driving those things.”
“In that time all of a sudden we recognised that a company that had significant contributions by certain people who were financiers of the other side—they were the ones who benefitted tremendously.”
He was cautioned by Kangaloo again.
Le Hunte added, “ The way the PP spent money wild all over the place without regard for process and order I’m reminded of an old calypso, ‘I go park mih PP anywhere’,” he added.