Tuesday February 9th, 2010
- Last update:9 hours 42 min ago
PM appeals to prisons officers:
Don’t embarrass Govt during CHOGM
Published: 13 Nov 2009
Prime Minister Patrick Manning is appealing to protesting prisons officers to be more responsible. He has also warned them against embarrassing the Government during the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). Speaking with reporters after a walkabout in his San Fernando East constituency on Wednesday, Manning said the officers had legitimate concerns. He assured that those concerns would be addressed. But Manning said: “Staying away from prison (work) does nobody any good. They (the officers) have a legitimate concern and it will be addressed, but people have to be more responsible in the way they conduct their legitimate business after all. “What they trying to do...embarrass the Government? The Government will not allow that to happen. That won’t happen.”
The prisons officers claimed they were under attack and have asked for guns to protect themselves after two of their colleagues were shot by criminals. Anthony Sinanan was shot and wounded on November 4 at the car park of the Golden Grove Remand Yard Prison, Arouca, while Ian Seegobin was shot dead three days later. On Monday and Tuesday, prisons officers at the Port-of-Spain State Prison staged a sickout in protest of the shooting of their colleagues. The action of the officers delayed proceedings in the magistrates and high courts throughout the country, as prisoners were not brought to court on time. Minister in the Ministry of National Security Donna Cox said on Wednesday that the issue of giving prison officers guns was being considered.
Association responds
General secretary of the Prisons Officers Association Burton Hill said people were underestimating the dangers prisons officers face on a daily basis. He said he was at a loss to understand how prisons officers could be responsible when it came to carrying guns to protect the State, but not when it came to the personal protection of themselves and their families. President of the association, Rajkumar Ramroop, said while the association remained optimistic that some of the initiatives promised by the authorities to safeguard officers would be implemented, the association was a bit sceptical. Rajkumar said many promises were made in the past and in similar circumstances, but most of them had not been met.
DON'T EMBARRASS GOVERNMENT
DON'T EMBARRASS GOVERNMENT DURING CHOGM:-
Mr. Manning, is this a comedy routine of yours?
You "appealing to protesting prison officers to be more responsible." Do you Sir, comprehend the meaning of the word "responsible"? I don't think so! You see, we have seen your governance, and no where in this 'garage sale' of yours can we identify responsibility.
You also "warned them against embarrassing the Government during the CHOGM." Further you stressed "What they trying to do .. embarrass the Government? The Government will not allow that to happen. That won't happen."
Don't you worry Mr. Prime Minister, Sir, because you have done a 'mash-up' job all by your little old self aided by your roving band of merry followers encircling you on a daily basis.
Enlightening to note that you Mr. Prime Minister, recognised that the Prison Officers have "legitimate concerns", and we know that you know, that this problem has been going on for quite some time now. Then why did you not find it necessary to instruct your people including your Minister in the Ministry of National Security, Donna Cox to get involved and deal with these concerns before it came to this serious situation?
You still got time before the CHOGM, so get going and fix the problem before the meeting starts: Then you will not be placed in a position of embarrassment.
The Prison Officers can no longer hold fast to "promises" made as there is a tendency by the Government to make promises and never follow through, leavig the officers hanging in perpetuity. ... No more, no more shall be the cry! So Mr. Manning you better do some fancy footwork in a hurry and deal with this problem, resolving serious outstanding ones, and you can then be guaranteed of not being "embarrassed". If not Sir, you may be on your own, laughing at yourself in the mirror, or should I say screaming and/or crying? The ball in your court Sir!
Your threat Mr. Prime Minister, that "The government will not allow this to happen. That won't happen." What did you mean by this statement, Sir. Are you going to fire them all; bring in the Army; impose a State of Emergency; or round them up and send them all off to Nelson's Island to live the rest of their natural days? Pray Tell ...
Gardenia
Please Mr. Prime Minister
Please Mr. Prime Minister understand this, the people are paying you to do a job. The people expect you and the rest of the government to carry out their wishes and instructions with a high degree of efficiency.
Yours is not to threaten or intimidate the people that you work for.
Were you working in the private sector, you would have been fired long ago for insubordination and and failure to satisfy the objectives set out by your employers.
Unfortunately we do not have that luxury. We must wait for another two years before we can fire you.
We don't have to embarrass
We don't have to embarrass the government, you, Max, Imbutt and the rest of the cronies are doing a very good job of it everytime you open your mouth.
"The government will not
"The government will not allow that to happen.That won't happen", what does that mean, was that a threat, maybe Manning and his band of merrymen sometimes forget that T&T is still a democracy, we have not gone communist...yet.
Hey Manning, if UDECOTT and
Hey Manning, if UDECOTT and Calder Hart did not embarass you nothing else would embarass you.It would take a lot more than Prison Officers.You are embarassing the whole country.Please shut up.Do your thing Prison Officers.
Let's hope Manning got a new
Let's hope Manning got a new speech writer from the one that wrote the address he delivered to the UN General Assembly. Or we will all be embarrassed, once more.
GOVERNMENT DON’T EMBARRASS
GOVERNMENT DON’T EMBARRASS T&T -
Government don't embarrass the citizens all year round we will not let that happen.
Sorry, but the Government is
Sorry, but the Government is already doing a fairly good job of embarrasing itself and citizens at large (UDECOTT, Integrity Commission, T&TEC workers, Prison Staff, no water, poor roads etc..). That, coupled with lack of accountability and transparency on all fronts, tells us that they do not need any further help to embarass them at the C-HOG Meeting, they can do it all by themselves ..
Guilty parties do not necessarily like to look in the mirror, for fear of what they might see !!