Rad­hi­ca Sookraj

The State stands ready to as­sist if for­mer prime min­is­ter Patrick Man­ning needs to be flown out of T&T for spe­cial­ist med­ical care, Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar promised yes­ter­day. Speak­ing with re­porters be­fore go­ing in­to a high-pow­ered meet­ing to dis­cuss the Gov­ern­ment's $7.2 bil­lion high­way project at Debe, Per­sad-Bisses­sar said even though she want­ed to vis­it Man­ning at hos­pi­tal, she re­spect­ed the fam­i­ly's wish­es to al­low vis­its on­ly to im­me­di­ate fam­i­ly. She ap­pealed to the na­tion to con­tin­ue to pray for Man­ning who she said had made a tremen­dous con­tri­bu­tion to T&T. "I spoke with Mrs Man­ning and she ad­vised that vis­its are re­strict­ed to im­me­di­ate fam­i­ly," the PM said.

"I asked my Min­is­ter of Health to vis­it and he did, so I un­der­stand what the fam­i­ly is say­ing." She said af­ter Min­is­ter Fuad Khan vis­it­ed Man­ning, he al­so rec­om­mend­ed that vis­its be lim­it­ed. "With re­spect to vis­its, I will be guid­ed by the fam­i­ly's wish­es," the Prime Min­is­ter said. Asked if the State would as­sist Man­ning in the event that he need­ed med­ical care abroad, Per­sad-Bisses­sar said: "I have al­ready said to Mrs Man­ning yes­ter­day that in what­ev­er way the State can as­sist, we will give that as­sis­tance."